


Play With Me

by faulty_expectations



Category: Attack on Titan, Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: AU, Angst, Attack on Titan AU, Biting, Blood and Injury, Daggers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Knives, OOC, Oral Sex, PWP, Rough Sex, Seduce, Seduction, Slow Build, Smut, Steamy, Sword Fighting, Thief, Threats of Violence, aot - Freeform, y/n
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:08:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 28,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28930011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/faulty_expectations/pseuds/faulty_expectations
Summary: AOT AU:Everyone knows that the southern end of Shiganshina belongs to Eren Jaeger. It's his territory through and through.So when a girl finds her way into the city, causing trouble wherever she goes, it peaks his interest. She's a thief, a seductress, a stubborn fool... and she somehow ends up right in Eren's lap.She lures him into a dangerous game, overconfident in her ability to break him and bring him to his knees. Eventually...she realizes that seduction doesn't always work when you're being seduced right back.
Relationships: Eren Yeager & Reader, Eren Yeager/Original Female Character(s), Eren Yeager/Reader, Eren Yeager/You
Comments: 15
Kudos: 146





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! My first AOT fanfic and honestly my first fanfic I've written in a long time lol. This just wouldn't get out of my brain so I thought I'd write it down. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!

The slums of Shiganshina were a particular kind of dangerous.

For some, the danger lied in trickery and pick-pocketry, mainly those too stupid to guard their own purse, for others the danger lied in lust and pleasure, mainly those who were too quick to blush or couldn’t tear their eyes away from whatever little sins came their way.

And as _she_ made her way down the blackest and foulest alley of them all, she laughed at the fact that she was probably in danger on both ends. She couldn’t exactly say that she looked intimidating enough to avoid thievery, nor could she say she wasn’t curious about the sins of the flesh. Actually, she _knew_ she was curious because even in the past half hour that she’d been wandering the slums, she had had trouble ignoring the back-alley couples who groped and moaned as though no one could see them. Well…she could definitely see them and the blushing heat that rushed through her entire body was now making her skin sticky and her brow cold. So yes, to her the slums of Shiganshina were doubly dangerous, and yet she didn’t care. She didn’t care because she was a stubborn fool who didn’t know common sense even if it had kicked her in the face.

So now, as she made her way down the blackest and foulest alley of Shiganshina District, one hand held in a loose claw near a sheathed dagger at her thigh, the other hand picking up grime as she trailed it along the stone walls, she gnashed her teeth in a wicked sort of excitement.

As she went further down the alley her eyes darted around the space. There was filth puddled here and there, dark splotches of something dried onto the walls, and it flaked off in her palm as she moved further into the dark.

She was breathing heavily; the intoxicating mixture of fear, anticipation, and exhilaration a dangerous combination for the girl. Which is why she didn’t notice she was being followed.

When she finally reached the end of the alley, a dead end of course, she spun, the first spike of _true_ fear making her hands grow sweaty.

This dead end specifically looked like the type of dead end that emphasized the _dead_ part. The dark puddles and splashes on the walls were clearly a rusted red color, it had to be blood.

She had foolishly walked herself into their bloody cage, and as the sound of slow footsteps reached her ears, she knew she was about to be captured.

Still, the fear didn’t overpower her senses. Instead her eyes flashed, she hissed through her teeth and ripped the twin curved daggers from her thighs and met her fate.

Shadowed by the dim light coming from the mouth of the alley were three figures. Two taller broad figures in front and one shorter one behind them. The two in front swaggered closer to her, and she grinned, in her eyes their arrogance would tip the scales toward her victory. The one in the back though… with their caution and obvious distrust, them she would have to be wary of for sure.

“Come closer, you brutes” she bit out, the hilts of her daggers cutting into her palms painfully. If these three were well-trained fighters they would have easily been able to tell she had no idea how to wield the sharp steel. Her palms had yet to callous and form to the hilts, and her stance was more “cornered beast” than “poised swordswoman”.

Which is why her ego grew even further as the two large men paused some feet away from her. They stood shoulder to shoulder, completely blocking any chance of escape down the alley. The smaller one hung back, obviously being the brains while the two in front were the brawn.

That was completely fine for her, she thought, how better to test her strength than taking on two types of opponent.

“What a catch, we’ve certainly lucked out this time, eh?” Brute #1 said, nudging the man next to him with his elbow. Her eyes had adjusted enough that she could make out their forms now. Two men stood before her, maybe a bit older than her, taller than her by far, and each were armed with a pistol.

Well, shit.

What did they say about bringing a knife to a gun fight?

She didn’t let this fact sway her, although it did make her heart race a bit faster, but she squared her shoulders and stood to face an even tougher challenge than before. And all she thought was “how fun”. Tch, how idiotic.

“Well, boys” she said, as she lowed herself into a bow, never taking her eyes off of them, “it looks like I’ve lost.”

Their piercing eyes tracked her as she straightened from the bow, and she knew at once that they’d unconsciously joined her little game. She chose the phrase “I’ve lost” just as carefully as she chose to bow over curtsy. Bowing was an act, she’d learned, specifically an act that dangled submission in one’s face when truly they were only getting at a better angle to lunge for the throat. A bow was a man’s trick, and as a woman, she’d learned to use it as a pawn in her dangerous game.

And now she wanted to play.

She’d never played with these stakes before, and this game was turning out to be an even more exhilarating one than she’d ever experienced before.

With her bow, her act of “submission” as it were, the men relaxed. Their roaming gazes turning from aggression to arrogance just like she wanted.

“Come on” she said, jerking her chin up at them, daring them to step closer. “Don’t you want to check your winnings?”

Brute #1 smirked, and the dull sun glinted off the shocking white blonde of his hair. With the confident gleam to his bright blue eyes, and the broad arms crossed over her chest, she might have found him attractive in other circumstances.

She tensed as he stepped toward her, her own smirk mirrored on the brute’s face. Although her stance was more relaxed, she kept her hands wrapped harshly around the hilts of her daggers, and it didn’t go unnoticed by all of her captors.

The blonde was yanked back by a hand on his shoulder, “Reiner, wait-“ Brute #2 said, his brown eyes not moving from her face, but Reiner shook him off, too focused on his _prize_. Her smirk turned into a sharp grin.

She let him crowd her into the dirty wall at her back, exhaling through her nose as he pressed into her space. She wouldn’t be lying if she said her hands were shaking just a little. His body brought too much warmth with it, and she felt sweat breakout on her face once again. He had drawn his pistol and it was held loosely in one hand, the threat of it enough to make her sweat even more.

He truly towered over her, her face was almost pressed into the planes of his chest, but she arched back trying to maintain the tense eye contact. She swore internally when her lower half pressed against him as she tried to meet his eyes, her neck almost ached at the angle. He grinned down at her. _Dammit, the bastard isn’t as stupid as he looks_ she thought.

For only a second, she tried to look over his shoulder, and saw Brute #2 standing closer to the pair of them, naked worry on his face. She couldn’t see their smaller cunning partner but then a rough hand grabbed hold of her chin and she met the shocking blue of Reiner’s eyes.

She cursed herself again for even taking her eyes off of him for an instant. He raised her face toward his, his thumb and index finger holding a harsh grip on her chin.

Reiner’s eyes traced her form, going from her brow, to her nose, the dip of her neck and her slightly exposed collarbone, to the deathlike grip she held on her daggers, to the thighs she had pressed against his legs, and finally to her lips, from which he could feel fast breaths against his own fingers.

And maybe he saw a cornered mouse, but, unbeknownst to him, with the way her hands shook, and her eyes shone, she was a cornered beast after all…and so, she went to make her first move.

She attempted to relax her body, let her form go more limp and pliant, let her eyes lower meekly from his, letting him “win”, and most difficult of all, let her arms fall to her sides, her daggers feeling like they’d weigh her down into the ground.

As he felt her relax in defeat, he moved even closer, a thick thigh nudging gently to move between her legs. She tried to stop the smirk from curving onto her mouth.

She rested the weight of her head in his hand, let her neck become more exposed to him, which she was uncomfortable to admit made her feel more vulnerable than she’d ever wanted to be.

Humming in the back of her throat, relaxing into his body even more, she let her breath ghost over his fingers, her tongue darting out to wet her lips, catching the tip of his thumb in the process.

And _there,_ the heat in his gaze, the way he couldn’t tear blue eyes away from her mouth, and the way he slowly holstered his pistol to better grab a handful of _her_ …she’d just as much as shouted “checkmate” for all of Shiganshina to hear.

She let her gaze flicker up to his and then down again, and then slowly, _slowly,_ drew his thumb into her mouth.

The laugh that bubbled in her throat as Reiner’s fine eyelashes fluttered for a second was drowned out by the lazy hum she let out. The hum which was echoed by a low groan, and a thick thigh pushing even further against her legs.

 _Tsk,_ she thought, _and he thought himself a player_.

“Reiner-“ Brute #2 coughed out, clearly embarrassed by his partner’s display, “We should go, it’s getting late as it is.”

Which was true. She was surprised to find that it was somehow even darker in the foul alley than it had been before.

She gave another slow suck on Reiner’s thumb and he all but melted, but growled out a low “Fuck off, Bertholdt.” To the figure behind them, which really did make her laugh, because now she knew playing games with higher stakes was easier than she previously thought.

Brute #2, Bertholdt she now knew him as, tried again, “Reiner, we need to _leave_. It’s getting darker and you know we’re not supposed to be in _his_ territory.”

Territory? Did Berty over there sound _scared?_ The girl was even more intrigued and excited than before. What exactly had she stumbled into?

By this point Reiner was breathing a bit heavy, his eyes opening and closing sporadically and she all about giggled.

“Bertholdt,” Reiner groaned out, “we’re taking her back with us. Screw selling her at the pier, she’d be worth more warming _our_ beds than dying in some shitty whore house… _Gods_ , her mouth- I-“ and the man honestly moaned.

Bertholdt audibly sighed, and she continued to suck on Reiner’s thumb, her tongue twirling around the digit, drawing out even more intriguing sounds. Honestly, if she wasn’t so thirsty for blood she’d be curious to find what other noises she could pull from this giant man in front of her.

When Reiner made no motion to back off of her, Bertholdt sighed again and reached forward, really tugging on the blonde man’s shoulder. “ _Let’s go”._ He said urgently, “Zeke said to bring her back either way, so if you want to bargain with him to keep her then that’s your problem…but we need to get out of here before he—” Bertholdt froze.

All of them did… because, there, faintly, the sound of footsteps echoed down the foul alleyway.

Reiner’s thumb slipped out of her mouth and he spun around wildly, drawing the pistol from his side, but he drew just a moment too late.

Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the scene play out in front of her. She grasped her daggers anew, the painful cut of the hilts in her palms were welcome because finally, _finally_ , she had found the fight she wanted.

A new player had arrived.

The man had Bertholdt caught against his chest, one hand holding his arms together, and the other holding a glinting steel piece against his throat. She thought she could see a thin line of blood already dyeing the front of Bertholdt’s shirt red, she grinned.

The only sound in the darkening space was Bertholdt’s ragged breathing, so she took a moment to analyze this new piece on her board.

Shorter than Bertholdt, though not by much, the new man stood incredibly still. Long legs clad in tighter black fabric, a roughhewn shirt stretched across his chest and down his arms, and a glint at his neck suggested he wore a piece of jewelry. Brown hair curled at his temples, she guessed it was loosely tied back. But what was most striking were his eyes.

Even in the darkened alley, the dimmest bit of light was able to showcase the striking green of his eyes. A supernatural shade of green, even in the dark. She cocked her head to the side, trying to picture what his eyes would look like in direct sunlight. Incredible, she would guess.

He had a strong jaw, lips flat at the moment but there in the corner of his mouth she saw mischief. She didn’t know why, but this man seemed 10 times more dangerous than the idiots Reiner and Bertholdt she’d been dealing with.

Her grin turned sharper. She knew one thing, and that was that she wanted his attention. She wanted to play with this mysterious new pawn.

She shifted her weight, drawing her arms into a fighting stance, and tried to catch his eye.

But he didn’t even look her way, didn’t even spare a glance in her direction, no, his eyes were locked on Reiner. And _damn_ , maybe she didn’t want that feverish glare leveled on her. His green eyes were piercing, aggressive, _explosive_ to say the least.

If she had melted Reiner with seduction, then surely this new man could melt Reiner with pure intimidation.

She stared at Reiner’s back, really not getting how the oaf was still standing.

“Where’s Annie?” Reiner asked. He stood almost directly in front of her, and she wasn’t sure if he was shielding her in some sick sense of possessiveness or if he just forgot she existed.

“She left with Armin the moment she saw us coming”

His voice was arrogant, smooth even, and it suited him perfectly.

Reiner cursed, running a hand through his hair, “are you fucking kidding me” he muttered to himself “Annie always does this, _why_ do we even bother bringing her along.”

She made the mistake of shuffling a bit to the right, trying to see around Reiner, but the big brute heard her and with surprising speed he spun and crushed her to his body.

All she had time to do was gasp, and then his arm was around her throat, his pistol cold against her temple, and her eyes, funny enough, locked on Bertholdt’s who was stuck in the same position across from her.

Her teeth clamped shut as she exhaled loudly through her mouth, she was _pissed._ How stupid could she be to lower her guard enough for this idiot to pull one on her.

At least she still had hold of her daggers, a fact that seemed to have slipped Reiner’s mind at the moment.

“Let him go and we’ll be on our way.” Reiner’s casual tone was betrayed by the tension she felt against her back. “What’re you going to do with a sap like Bertholdt anyway, Eren?”

 _Eren._ The name shot through her, down to her toes and up into her head. This dangerous man, _Eren_ , she had to know more about him.

She struggled loosely in Reiner’s arms, trying to judge how easy it’d be to break free, but for what he lacked in brains he surely gained in muscle. The man was built like a wall.

“Oh, I don’t know…could always use a new errand boy.”

Eren chuckled, downright chuckled, the small smile on his face not even reaching his eyes at all. Eyes that had still not looked toward her once.

Reiner huffed, blowing hot air onto her head, “How about we make a trade?” She had to hold herself back from rolling her eyes. “You let Berty go, I give you this piece,” he said, knocking the pistol against her head “and we pretend this never happened.”

A barking laugh shot out of her, and Reiner squeezed tight around her throat, causing her laugh to turn more into a sputtering cough.

Eren smirked, “What makes you think that’s fair? What would I want with a rabid dog?” and finally, he raked his eyes over her figure, lingering on the snarl set on her mouth. _Who the fuck does he think he is, how dare—_

“You’re just not thinking hard enough Jaeger,” Reiner just didn’t know when to give up, “Put enough pressure and this _dog_ will turn into a bitch in heat.”

He moved his meaty arm off of her throat and made to trail it down her figure, maybe cop a feel, show this _Eren_ what he’d be missing, but before he could so much as go below her collarbones she had gotten a mouthful of the meat of his palm. She ground her teeth together for good measure.

“OW! Fucking—what the hell kind of—she _bit_ me!” He shook his hand, cursing her further. She was sure the grin on her face looked downright evil at this point.

Eren coughed, trying and failing to cover a laugh, “Oh yeah, she sure looks tame. I wouldn’t put my hands, let alone my dick, anywhere near her”

With that she scowled, how was she supposed to play her game if the man wouldn’t even come near her?

Before she could so much as open her mouth, Eren cut in again— “Anyway, the trade is void. You can’t offer her as a piece if she’s already mine.”

All of them paused…did she just hear him correctly?

“Wha—” Reiner spluttered.

“She crossed over into _my_ territory, she stole from _my_ people—” he paused, nodding toward the twin daggers at her side, “she walked down _my_ alley, and last of all, she disrupted _my_ peace. Therefore, she is _mine_.”

Reiner gulped.

Truth be told, she didn’t know about any territories or lines drawn in the sand. Yes, she stole the twin daggers from a man too lost in his drink to notice…but then she guessed _someone_ noticed.

She had wanted an adventure and it damn right looked like she was going to get one.

Reiner shifted behind her, “What do you want?”

Finally, a bit of the stillness seeped out of Eren. The bastard was winning, and she hadn’t even made a move.

Eren made a show of thinking about it, “Lay down your gun, step away from the girl and you and Bertholdt go crying back to Zeke and tell him to fuck off.”

He shrugged casually, the knife still against Bertholdt’s throat, a thin line of blood still trailing down the guy’s chest.

“Y-you’re letting us go?” Bertholdt stuttered.

“I guess I am.”

After a tense few seconds, when no one made a move, she decided it was up to her to spur them on.

With more confidence that she should’ve had, the girl twisted in Reiner’s arms, elbowing the gun roughly from her head and aiming one sharpened dagger straight at the man’s groin.

If it weren’t for the sharp _click_ of a pistol being cocked, she surely would’ve made sure Reiner never lived to be a father.

She dared a look over her shoulder, a snarl curved onto her lips, completely livid. It all died when she found herself staring down the barrel of a gun.

She was right, being on the receiving side of Eren’s sharp gaze was a scary thing. If she wasn’t so hyped up on adrenaline she surely would have flinched.

Instead, being a fool, she grinned at him, daring him with her eyes. _Do it._

His eyes widened slightly, then darkened, and he _really_ looked at her then. Let his eyes lazily sweep her figure, lingering on the white knuckled grip she held on her weapons.

“Not now, sweet.” He said, not once breaking eye contact.

And _oh,_ this is exactly what she wanted. Exactly the type of danger she was looking for. And exactly the kind of high stakes game she’d dreamt of.

She analyzed the situation, quickly deciding that dealing with Eren was a much more fun outcome than making Reiner a premature eunuch.

So, she backed off and stepped back into the shadows.

Reiner looked between them in confusion but stumbled when Eren shoved Bertholdt away from him and toward the blonde brute.

They landed in a heap, no doubt their clothes getting dirtied by whatever filth covered the floor of Eren’s alley.

As one, both Reiner and Bertholdt stood. Reiner spared one last glance toward her, eyes glittering with both interest and pity, before he turned and fled down back toward the street.

And then there were two.

They stood opposite each other, sizing each other up. The alley was quiet, the bustle of the nightlife on the street not even reaching them.

She shifted her weight, testing the grip she had on her daggers, ready for something, anything from the dangerous man in front of her.

Not knowing anything about him, she tried to puzzle together what little information she had already.

Eren owned this territory. Considered anything within its boundaries his property.

He was feared, and respected. She was sure he knew exactly how to wield both the pistol and dagger he was armed with. He moved with a fluid grace that she lacked. And… he was walking away.

He was walking away??

Eren walked slowly back toward the street, his gait casual, unhurried, and completely unguarded. He hadn’t said or done anything. He had left her behind like trash, she wasn’t even important enough for his undivided attention.

The pure anger that shot through her was staggering and she barely even _thought_ about the consequences when she lifted her arm, lifted her dagger and threw it directly at his back.

Of course, he heard the thing coming, heard her shuffle her feet or heard the sting of metal through the air, he heard _something_. Because one moment she was staring at her knife aimed at his spine and the next she only saw green and then she was gasping as all the breath was knocked out of her.

Her vision swam for a moment when her head slammed against the wall at her back, and she saw four devilish green eyes instead of two.

As she came to, her fight or flight instincts kicking in, mainly the former than the latter, she brought a leg up to attempt to knee him in the gut. He felt it coming and shoved the leg down with his full body weight, and then she was trapped flush against his body and the dirty stone wall.

She huffed, trying and failing to free her hands. She’d lost one dagger with her stupid throw and the other was held limply in her left hand, which wasn’t very helpful since both her hands were clasped in his as he caged her in.

So, she did the only stupid thing left to do in the situation, she reared back and head-butted him as hard as she possible could. She had always been told she was hardheaded.

Eren cursed, his eyes scrunching up, but somehow the blow didn’t break his hold on her. In fact, she was probably hurt more than him with the head-butt, her vision swam again, then straightened out even more slowly.

He was angry, that much she could tell. Eren moved so he captured both her arms in one hand, and then grabbed a handful of her hair, yanking her head back away from his.

She hissed as his nails raked against the base of her skull. And she stared up at him with hooded eyes, calculating what to do next.

And obviously the next move was to start the game.

Eren had paused, perhaps curious as to what she would do next. At least now she’d gotten his attention.

She took in his face, felt his breath fan out across her face, and decided that seduction would suit their game best.

The girl had been gambling in games her entire life. She wasn’t sure when it exactly it started, probably young, but she’d always craved control. She was tired of being dressed like a doll and paraded for family. Tired of being told what to do and how to do it. And so, she left. Disappeared. That was years ago, and so she spent the next chapter of her life traveling between towns, playing games like “seduction” and “intimidation” until she won and won and won. Until she had control of the board and her opponent was broken.

Yes, this game would be a game of seduction. She knew she lacked the strength and cunning to win against him in a fight, she had known that with Reiner too, but with a little bit of softness, of heat, she’d have him in the palm of her hand.

And so, with his hand in her hair, their legs tangled together and his eyes not straying from hers, she melted against him.

She let the hand cradle the back of her head, let her neck be exposed to him, let her body fall against his. Almost like a cat rubbing up against a leg. She let herself be held by this dangerous man, all in the ploy of destroying him.

He was warm, she realized. She fit against him somewhat perfectly. His hand was large enough to hold the back of her neck, felt his fingers squeeze gently on either side of her and she almost shivered. Almost.

She hummed lowly, let her eyes drift shut in pretend bliss, comfort, whatever you wanted to call it. She slowly opened her legs, let his thigh nudge between them. As she opened her eyes, she caught him looking down, caught him raking his eyes along her throat, and felt him tense his leg, testing it against the snug heat between them.

A grin tugged at her lips.

But then, as he saw her grin, realization lit his eyes, and he pressed even closer against her. She gasped as her neck was bent back even further. He leaned in close, his nose brushing against the shell of her ear.

“Do you want to play a game?” he hummed.

Her eyes shot open and she jerked forward, hissing as his hand pulled at the roots of her hair.

And Eren smirked, he smirked down at her, even as they shared breath.

He hadn’t melted, he hadn’t moaned or lowered his guards, instead, he met her head on.

She tried it again, tried to call his bluff. She lowered her eyes meekly, faking at submission as she fell against him again, and Gods, if it almost worked.

For a second, she felt him shudder, felt a little inhale of breath that he clearly tried to hide. Eren’s hand in her hair had slacked and she leaned forward, bravely licking a stripe up the side of his neck.

Eren gasped, and his eyes flashed, and in the next second he thrust his thigh up against her. It rubbed right against her core, and she almost buckled but caught herself just in time. Sfelt her anger flare and then the girl lunged for his throat and _bit_.

She tasted salt in her mouth, but luckily not blood as she hadn’t broken the skin. Eren sucked in a breath through his teeth, and then groaned lowly. He hung his head between them, breaths coming out hot against her own neck. Her jaw ached as she shifted her teeth against his skin. She counted his moan as a win until he nudged his thigh slowly against her, and she slipped down the wall a bit to straddle the thickest part of his thigh directly. She tried to move off but the friction sent such an intense shot of pleasure through her that she whined.

They both paused… and after a tense second, the only sounds passing between them harsh breathing, they both shoved away from each other.

Her chest heaved, her one dagger held in front of her, trying to act as some sort of barrier between her and _him_.

“You couldn’t just leave, could you” Eren breathed out. He ran a hand along his neck, and she was smug to see a red splotch just under his jaw. She hoped there was an indent of her teeth marked on the man.

No, she couldn’t have just left. She saw him, and she wanted him. It was simple as that.

She was in too deep as it was, the moment he didn’t fall for her tricks was the moment she knew she had to finish this game. Now they were at a stalemate.

Looking at her surroundings she thought of anything to keep him interested, anything to keep him playing.

“Teach me to fight.”

His eyebrows shot up, clearly, she’d caught him by surprise. _Good_ she thought, _being unpredictable suits me best._

“You want to know how to fight?”

“Teach me how to use these daggers I stole.” She said, gaging his reaction.

He hummed, looking at her in a new light, an equal light. He had underestimated her. Eren appraised her once more and then answered.

“Okay.”

And it was her turn to stare him down.

“I— why?” she didn’t know why she expected him to say no. She expected to have to prove her worth “I…stole from one of your people…”

“Clearly he was piss drunk if he let _you_ of all people snatch his weapons off him”

She scowled, “I broke into your territory”

He shrugged “civilians can cross the lines as they please”

“I walked down your alley and ‘disrupted your peace’” she quoted his own words back at him.

Eren shrugged again, “and I’d say the position I found you in with Reiner was punishment enough for my ‘disrupted peace’” he chuckled.

Her face turned red.

She looked down to scuff her boots in the dirt and when she looked up he was closer than before.

He had an analytical eye. Eren often boasted that he could read people, and right now he was itching to pick apart and dissect. “Why do you want to fight?”

“I—” she trailed off, her brain not moving fast enough to come up with a convincing lie.

Eren’s eyes never left hers and he stepped even closer. She refused to be herded back by him, so she straightened her shoulders and let him invade her space, although her skin felt like it was trying to jump off her bones with the way he made her tense up.

He trailed a finger down her arm, leaving fire in its wake and held up her hand, the one still clutching her last dagger.

As he bent to study her grip, testing its strength, running calloused fingers down the shining blade, he looked at her through lowered lashes and she knew the image of him bent before her would be seared into her brain forever.

Eren was gorgeous and she hated him for it.

It made her want him even more.

He dropped her hand and it fell limp against her thigh. And as he straightened to his full height, making her look up at him again, he captured her chin in his hand.

She thought he was mocking her, remembering the position he’d found her in with Reiner and she tried to stir up some sort of anger, she knew it was boiling down in her gut somewhere, but all that came to mind was the memory of a thumb in her mouth, the warmth of a body pressed against her and soft groans echoed in her ear.

As she unconsciously felt her tongue sweep against her lips her eyes widened as she saw Eren track the movement with darkened eyes. Now she knew she wasn’t the only one thinking about it.

This was dangerous. She was playing with incredibly high stakes…and the adrenaline spiked through her like never before.

Eren caught it in her eyes, the challenge and the heat and smiled down at her.

The smile was so soft that her breath caught in her throat, she stood mesmerized and barely heard the words leave his mouth.

“You’re an addict. You play for the rush, for the control that you _need_. You’re a runaway, an outcast and the only thing that gives you comfort are the games you’ve won that you hold in your memories like gold.” He sighed, and she felt it against her lips, she saw nothing but green. “you don’t want to learn to fight, you want to learn to conquer. A victory is nothing if it’s not your opponent submitting to you on their knees”

He laughed lightly as he finally realized his luck. Whatever he thought the day would bring he never imaged someone like her would land in his lap. He was excited to see the adventures they were sure to have.

“I’m right aren’t I?”

She couldn’t even nod her head. She was shocked, people don’t analyze her, they don’t spend the time trying to read her or know her motives. No, she seduces them until they’re too distracted to mind their purse or she fights until their too angry to see straight and she robs them blind. That’s how she deals with people. She’s never actually talked to and she’s never actually seen.

Eren Jaeger… he was something else entirely.

“I’ll play with you.” He breathed, “I like these kinds of games.”

She shuddered.

“I like control too, sweet girl.” His thumb swiped over her parted lips, “and here’s to beginnings.”

Without waiting for her to respond, Eren lifted her mouth to meet his. He slanted their lips together and pressed into her. He was wet and warm and she melted into him like she wanted to be swallowed whole. She breathed, and she felt him there, she gasped and his tongue was there to meet hers. Her back arched when he caught her neck in one hand, her chest pressing into his and she ached to bury her fingers in the soft locks at the base of his neck.

So she did.

She reached up and tugged harshly at the strands, feeling his hand flex against her throat, his lips still moving over hers with a frenzy and she whimpered into his mouth. Eren grunted as she raked nails through his hair, grabbing at him and trying to get even closer to the man. He exhaled sharply and kissed her even harder, sucking on her tongue until she felt faint.

When he pulled back, laying one last gentle kiss against her lips that she barely felt, he looked down at her glazed expression.

Her cheeks were pink, her eyes blown wide as they searched his face, getting drawn back and back again to his glistening lips. She could see it in his eyes that he knew. He knew that he had started a fight that she had been absolutely aching for. Finally, someone had walked into her life that would match her blow for blow, kiss for kiss. And she cursed him for the fact that it seemed to light an even brighter fire in him.

Eren swiped his thumb against her parted lips and she pursed them, expecting to take it into her mouth.

He hummed lowly and leaned down next to her ear, and as he blew lightly against her neck he whispered, “Your move”.


	2. Strategy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> very long and very spicy chapter, please enjoy !
> 
> Eren Jaeger is a little shit and I had a lot of fun writing this.

_Stupid – fucking sparkly eyes—stupid perfect smile— stupid soft hair and_ Gods his hands –

_NO ugh_

Never in her life had she hated someone as much as she hated Eren Jaeger.

_Idiot with mischief written on his face—idiot with the thickest thighs she’d ever seen—_

Whatever you do don’t think about them between your legs— _idiot with the most kissable lips—_

 _Spit slick lips—_ fuck.

Walking along the streets of Shiganshina’s slums the girl mashed her palm repeatedly into her head, praying to whatever gods there were to kill the bastard. (Eren a.k.a the Bastard).

The kiss had replayed in her mind throughout the night like some sick kind of torment.

Last night in the alley she’d all but run from him the moment she’d regained her senses, not even looking back over her shoulder at him. But she heard his breathy laugh as she booked it onto the street; his call of “See you here this time tomorrow for our first lesson, sweet!” echoing behind her.

And that was the last she’d seen of the bastard. She’d run right onto the street like a mad woman, breathing hard, hair sticking to her face with how flushed she was, and she just about got trampled to death by a passing carriage. The fact that she barely saw it coming proved just how flustered she was and it made her see red.

Her teeth were still sore with how hard she’d clenched her jaw, surprised a tooth hadn’t cracked…but she would die before she gave him the satisfaction.

No, as soon as she’d regained her breath, she took off at a breakneck pace, shouldering and shoving whatever drunkards got in her way. Although she was new to Shiganshina, she knew as soon as she entered the city that it came to life at night. And Shiganshina nightlife sure didn’t disappoint.

Bars and taverns and everything in between were bustling with people, and it made it difficult to push through the throngs just get anywhere. Every time someone so much as brushed her sleeve she got angrier. And she laughed looking back at it since even the hustlers on the street trying to make a coin backed off the moment they saw the look in her eyes. The nightlife had its beauty as well. With the way people swayed to music drifting onto the street, the couples walking hand in hand, and the wafting smells of sweet breads and new foods…she could see the magic in it.

She had planned on going straight back to the hole-in-the-wall inn she’d been staying in but wound up somewhere else entirely by accident.

For the better part of the night the girl found herself warming the seat of the filthiest brothel in Shiganshina. Not surprised it wound up on Eren’s turf and no doubt it was the reason Reiner was always found slinking around his territory too, the pervert.

True that it drew her in with its light and laughter and cloying perfume, just like any other poor soul on the street, but she stayed for the knowledge she’d gain.

She had no game plan to out seduce the seducer, Eren Jaeger. So, as she lounged in the brothel, a woman in her lap, ale in her cup and she attempted to study them all.

It was an embarrassing and hard guarded secret that the girl wasn’t exactly very experienced when it came to sex. Nobody ever guessed it, no one ever even _suspected_.

But it was true, her mastery of the art of seduction stemmed from her knowledge on how to distract and lure. She just wanted to make her mark so stupid with lust or fear that they’d be willing to part with both money and dignity.

She had had small tastes of pleasure, namely kisses and touches with a barmaid at an Inn in Trost a couple months back and quick rumbles in the hay with a young farm boy who unbeknownst to him lent her his horse.

She’d never _truly_ known pleasure.

The girl had played games of seduction with what she learned on the road. She’d quickly learned that people were easy to seduce. Either sexually or emotionally. She’d say a game could be won with fists or lips, so long as she left richer than she arrived she was happy. She had learned that with a certain look in her eye, a certain tilt to her head, she could have anyone she damn well wanted. Or that’s what she thought.

So, as she marched through the slums of Shiganshina, angry and pent up, struggling to come up with her next move to take Eren down, she found herself drawn to the warmth and laughter of “The Basement”.

“The Basement” being the filthy, marvelous brothel.

If you asked the girl straight on what she’d learned, she’d probably give you some bullshit rundown of the arts of seduction and lining your pockets with the cash of a foolish man, but really, she didn’t learn a thing. She sat in the same chair in that filthy brothel until the early hours of the morning, trading quips and barbs with some other idiot named Jean who somehow became her drinking buddy. Both of them sat there, high off perfume and kisses, hands full of scantily clad dancers who definitely left bruising love marks down the side of her throat.

The hickies did nothing to take her mind off a certain green eyed bastard.

So now, sporting the most horrible hangover she’d ever had, the girl made her way through Shiganshina, setting up post near the foul alley from last night in preparation of her first “lesson”.

She’d barely woken up an hour ago and the sun was already going down.

She sat in a café at the window, facing _the_ alley which truly did look like a black hole from her vantage point, and she couldn’t stop her knee from bobbing up and down, threatening to spill her drink. It was a nervous tic she thought was far behind her.

The fact that just yesterday she had walked straight into that hole, cocksure and ready for blood made her smile.

No matter the circumstances, she’d probably do it again. She grinned behind her drink, the strongest tea they had to offer, and thought up a strategy.

She compiled a list in her head, aptly titled “How to make Eren Jaeger your bitch” and sat stewing for almost an hour. The list was mainly full of “what not to do” in their game of seduction rather than “what to do”. She really cursed that Brothel to high hell, the whole experience was a blur of drunken laughter, no doubt she couldn’t use any of that “knowledge” … unless Eren somehow had a weakness for ‘how to laugh so hard you blow warm ale out both nostrils’. No, she doubted that would work. Plus, _that_ specific trick wasn’t really her forte. The one memory she had of last night was Jean, her idiot of a drinking buddy, groveling for forgiveness for shooting ale out his nose all over the girl that had been sucking on his neck. She’ll most definitely cherish the memory forever.

The girl was so lost in thought that the scrape of a chair to her left made her jump, one hand already half way to unsheathing her dagger (she still hadn’t gone back to find the one she’d tried to kill Eren with yesterday).

And speak of the devil…

 _God fucking dammit_.

Eren somehow looked even more gorgeous in the dimming light of the tavern than he had in their disgusting alleyway.

He wore the same fitted trousers as last night, a soft green shirt, ties left open showing the tanned planes of his chest, a cord of some necklace disappearing down the front of his shirt. She raised her eyes quickly trying not to let her gaze stick to the broad muscled chest. Her mouth went dry.

 _Shit._ She thought. _Okay, definitely don’t look below his neck. Nope. Focus neck and up._

but when she moved her eyes upward, she stopped. There on his face was the most _wicked_ grin she’d ever had the chance to see. Oh, he knew what he was doing to her, he fucking knew all right.

The anger that rose up in her was swift and she glared at him, but whatever biting remark she had ready on her tongue fizzled out the moment she was caught in his eyes.

Eyes that somehow made her want to forget her own goddamn name.

Eren Jaeger was the kind of devil Satan herself couldn’t keep locked up in hell.

…And he was talking to her and she clearly hadn’t heard a word he said.

“what.” She bit out, not even a question remotely.

His eyes sparkled, the amusement clear on his face, “I said, looks like you had a rough night”

That just made her scowl deepen. The bastard was going to give her permanent frown lines, that or a heart attack.

She just huffed and decided to ignore him.

The tavern was filling up, the nightlife rush coming in even as the last bits of the sun slid under the horizon.

The place was crowded, probably a popular joint. The ale was cold and there was a fiddler in the corner of the room that played a tune too obnoxious and catchy not to dance to.

Though she wouldn’t know, she’d never hand a dance partner that she wasn’t trying to swindle. So, she didn’t think that counted.

The warm hand that landed on her thigh made her jump.

She had half the mind to break his nose with her fist, the beginning of a snarl on her lips when she turned to face him.

Eren had that soft smile on his face again. The one that stole your breath from your body and made it seem like he hung the moon. That smile.

She hated it.

His hand was actually on her thigh though, but instead of trying to feel her up, he was holding her missing dagger.

It gleamed in the low light, and it looked positively sinful in his large rough grip.

He must have seen the shock on her face because he didn’t break eye contact once as he slid the dagger oh so slowly into the empty sheath on her thigh.

Sweat broke out on her forehead.

Fuck, she was a goner. How was she supposed to one-up that??

Apparently, he’d chosen to make the first move today, let’s be real that’s exactly what is was, and she had been caught off guard.

She hadn’t had the upper hand yet and it pissed her off on a newer level not known to man.

Clenching her teeth and letting the fury seep into her eyes she shoved his hand off of her. And the bastard had the gall to smirk.

He got the exact reaction he was hoping for. And he definitely didn’t miss the beads of perspiration on her chest as she sucked in a breath, nor the faint blush to her cheeks.

Eren stood and jerked his chin at her, the message of ‘let’s go’ loud and clear.

“What about the drink—” she ground out, standing to meet him. Even more pissed that he was taller than her too. The fucker was too much for her to stand at the moment.

Eren just waved her worries away, already heading toward the door, “it’s on the house.”

Of course, it was.

And so, she found herself jogging to keep up as Eren wove his way through the throngs of people. Really, the crowds seemed to part around him, not one person bumped or jostled his shoulders. She couldn’t say the same, at one point a man ran straight into her shoulder and she turned, arm already back to slap this man into oblivion when Eren caught her around the waist, hauling her backwards.

She could still feel the weight and warmth of his arms around her.

She’d shoved him off, maybe lingering to feel the hard press of his bicep, though she wouldn’t dare admit it.

As they walked and walked, the streets getting narrower and narrower, she dared to strike up a conversation.

“Where are we?”

He didn’t even glance back at her, “Shiganshina”

The bastard. She rolled her eyes, “I meant, where in Shiganshina, asshole.”

The asshole part felt too good leaving her mouth.

Eren hummed, “Well…I’d say about three blocks south of your favorite brothel.”

At that, she stumbled over her own feet. An immediate blush of fury lighting her face, she swore she didn’t try and rub at the sensitive bruise that undoubtedly was still visible under her jaw.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mhm, ok.”

They walked a few more minutes in silence. She was sure there was actual steam coming out of her ears. “How did you know.” She bit out.

“How did I know what?”

Oh, she hated him with a passion.

Eren had slowed his gait so that he walked closer to her rather than in front. The gleam in his eyes was downright diabolical.

She sighed through her nose, “How did you know about the Basement.”

“Oh, that.” He said, and then pretended to think about it some more. “We had you pegged the moment you entered the city. Some random girl, stumbling into the slummiest parts of Shiganshina? Stealing and gambling left, and right? It was the wicked gleam in your eyes that gave you away”

She was at a loss for words. It’s true that she had been causing a bunch of problems for the people of Shiganshina in the past 2 weeks she’d been living in the city. Maybe she’d stolen here or there, left too many fools with black eyes and bloodied mouths, but she really didn’t think anyone would notice.

“I don’t understand.”

Eren chuckled lightly, “You entered town coming from the west right?” and she nodded, “I thought so…I’m sure Zeke had you followed the moment your shoes hit the pavement.”

Zeke? Oh…zeke. The zeke that brutes #1 and 2 had been worried about last night in the alley. Both Reiner and Bertholdt had seemed worried about getting back to some guy named Zeke.

Eren continued, “and I had you pegged maybe…half a second before Zeke did.”

Based on that information and the smug tone to his voice, there had to be bad blood between Zeke and Eren. A rivalry maybe? But how deep did it go, and how hard should she push for information. She’d learned the hard way that sometimes pushing buttons got you in more trouble than it was worth.

But one thing didn’t make sense. “…I’d been living here for over 2 weeks before Reiner and Bertholdt decided to do anything about it...”

Eren smirked at her, something a little cold in his eyes that she hadn’t seen before.

That was when she noticed that they had stopped before a plain looking doorway. A red rusted handle sticking out of a chipping wooden door, nothing spectacular about it. She thought if she squinted hard enough she could make out a faded “T” written on the sill. The road they were on was completely deserted and for the first time in the past two days she felt an inkling of fear for the way he was looking at her.

“That’s because up until yesterday you had been Zeke’s, a wandering thief not doing much damage…but then—” and he paused, stepping one step closer to her and she stopped breathing. “you went to a different part of town. Specifically, my part of town… and when you did that, Zeke made a desperate play. He didn’t like the fact that you had slipped away from him so he sent Reiner and Berty after you, no doubt to capture you and sell you to the highest bidder…that or to keep you for himself.—” Eren lifted a strand of her hair, lightly tucking it behind her ear, “He knew the moment you stepped over that invisible line that you then belonged to me… and dear old Zeke hates losing.”

The implied ‘and I always win’ sat heavy in the air.

Gods, the energy that was building between them was something otherworldly and all he’d done was play with a piece of her hair. But it was the way he stood, the way he crowded over her without even pushing her back, the way his eyes said he wanted to take her right there against the faded wooden door.

She gulped.

“S-So you knew Reiner and Bertholdt were looking for me and you came to…take what was yours?” she whispered.

Eren hummed low in his throat and wet his lips, “Something like that…I was gonna let you go, you know, but then well… you wanted to play, and I couldn’t say no to that could I?”

The game had started the moment she chucked that dagger straight at his back. The fact that that was what made him agree to play set her blood on fire.

“Although,” Eren continued, “I thought you would’ve put up more than a fight by now.”

That did it. She fell for his bait just like he wanted, and she didn’t give a damn.

Eren enjoyed goading her, he liked to push and prod to see that anger stir up in her over and over again. He liked the way her cheeks flushed red and her chest began to heave, he could practically feel it.

“Why you—” she snarled, reaching up to do something…maybe yank his head back by the hair and shove him to his knees. She really didn’t think there was any other way to get it into his thick skull that she was the one in charge. The small voice in the back of her head immediately asked, ‘was she?’

The door slammed open, spilling yellow light right onto them. She paused, one hand at the base of Eren’s neck, the other on a silver dagger and then she groaned in annoyance when she saw who exactly was at the door.

“I should’ve known.”

There, standing in the most torn up raggedy pj’s she’d ever seen was Jean. The same idiot who’d watched her down three whiskeys straight and then fall face first into some girl’s breasts the night before. They’d laughed at it for maybe 40 minutes straight, which funny enough resulted in the ‘ale through the nose’ incident.

“I can’t believe you’re fucking standing right now let alone flirting, ugh gross.” Jean said, swaying a bit until he leaned up against the door, one hand carding through his hair. She actually laughed through her scowl, he definitely looked way shittier than she did. She counted that as a win.

“Maybe I just know how to hold my liquor.” She teased, relaxing her stance. It was hard to relax anywhere near Eren though.

Jean barked out a laugh, “yeah right, I bet if I swiped a glass of ale under your nose right now you’d barf up your entire stomach. Not to mention, I followed you home at fucking 7 in the morning and saw you trip maybe 4 times and practically crawl up a flight of stairs.”

Her eye twitched, “Oh? You wanna swap stories, asshole? I guess I could go back to the Basement and ask your girl what it felt like to get shot in the tits by a full glass of ale straight through your giant ass nostrils”

“Belle said she forgave me for that and yOU PROMISED NOT TO TALK ABOUT IT—

“WELL I’M TALKING ABOUT IT, HORSEFACE”

Jean stilled, an eerier sort of calm settling over him before he opened his mouth again, “I definitely remember you writhing around as some kid sucked on your neck… and then you moaned out somebody’s name, right? What was it again? Starts with an ‘E’ ends with ‘ren’, yeah I’m pretty sure—”

She lunged for his throat.

Or would have if Eren hadn’t caught her by her shirt. She felt like some kind of feral cat being held by the scruff of their neck. It didn’t matter, she tried lunging for the asshole again, and Jean had the good sense to stumble back a step, eyes widening just a little bit.

Jean knocked the door open even wider and another figure appeared next to him.

A girl stood blocking their entrance, and her dark eyes went from Jean leaning on the door frame, to Eren who was doing his best not to burst out laughing, and then her, who was wiggling around trying to cut her way free. Eren wrestled the daggers away before she could actually cut someone, the bastard.

“Eren, you’re back.” The new girl said, tugging absentmindedly at the red scarf wound around her neck.

“Mikasa,” Eren smiled, “please tuck Jean back into bed, looks like he could use a couple more hours of beauty sleep.”

“Fuck you, Eren.”

“—and tell Armin to scrounge up something for dinner, unless you guys already ate, I’m sure there’s some stale crackers in the kitchen somewhere.” Eren continued, not even missing a beat.

Mikasa nodded and grabbed Jean by sleeve, “…and do you want…privacy?” she asked, eyes flitting between the two of them “or are you going to spar with an audience?”

She appreciated the use of the word ‘spar’, since she was 105% sure if it was a real fight Eren would wipe the floor with her.

Eren tugged her closer, one arm now thrown over her shoulders and she was too ticked off at Jean to even enjoy it dammit.

She was trying her hardest to shove down the intense embarrassment she was feeling.

She’d deal with that…never.

Not that Eren would ever let her live it down, she seriously had to pick up the slack. At this point in the game, she feared she was even still on the board.

“No audience, not this time anyway.”

This time??

Really, what had she gotten herself into.

Mikasa nodded again and started hauling a staggering Jean further into the building.

Jean had barely disappeared around the corner before she started struggling again in earnest, trying to at least let out some frustration.

“Woah there,” Eren said, pulling her in toward his chest, laughing “Jean’s an asshole, but he doesn’t deserve a dagger to the eye.”

“yeah, well you seem kinda biased.” She said, ducking under Eren’s arm and sheathing at least one of her daggers.

“If it’s any consolation Jean’s now banned from the Basement… dammit, and he was the only one even allowed 100 feet from the building…guess you were the last mark we’ll follow into that place.”

Eren chuckled and straightened his shirt and then walked through the door.

She took a moment to compose herself, breathing in the cool night air before following him inside.

The space was actually a lot larger than it looked from the outside. The doorway opened into a long hallway, some kind of massive common room at the end. There were doors along the hall that Eren pointed to, kitchen, gym, bedroom, showers, etc.

They made it to the common room, which held a bunch of mismatched couches and televisions and also a raggedy pool table in the back corner. Two other people were playing pool, their yells echoing and bouncing off the walls. When they got closer she saw that the table was littered in little crushed up chocolates. The pool balls having smashed a lot of them into little brown chocolate smudges.

“That’s Conny and Sasha. Just ignore them, they’re weird.”

Both of them somehow heard Eren and shouted “NOT TRUE” at the same time and then continued playing like nothing happened. She swore she saw the Sasha one wipe her finger through some smudgy chocolate and pop it in her mouth.

Eren laughed.

She took a moment to really look at him. He was different here. Lighter somehow. He walked easier, like he didn’t need to look over his shoulder. She thought briefly that maybe she should be insulted that he didn’t consider her a threat.

“So, from what you said earlier, I guess they’re both banned from the Basement as well?” she asked, jerking her chin toward Sasha and Conny. She didn’t want to ask if he was banned too.

“Oh yeah, both of them, they almost burned it down once or twice. It definitely wasn’t my first choice to send Jean to trail you, knowing he would probably end up passed out in a gutter somewhere drunk off his ass, and with the way he looked like literal death just now, I’d say I was right to worry just a bit.”

The laugh that bubbled out of her surprised her, “yeah, I definitely didn’t suspect him of anything.”

“No, you wouldn’t”

And there, with the teasing smirk he sent over his shoulder at her she immediately remembered what he was.

She remembered where she was. With a subtle shift in her stance (that she hoped he didn’t notice) she tried to analyze her surroundings, tried to learn as much as possible about the place Eren had brought her.

He was leading her around the main common room, mumbling here or there about which seat was the comfiest and where to hide certain snacks, and she saw that there were more hidden doorways behind a couch and a latch or two on the wall next to the pool table. Places that went who knows where and held god knows what.

She thought she was being sly, counting the scuff marks on the floor, counting the number of open drinks on the tables, but when she felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise up she glanced back, noticing that both Sasha and Conny were watching her. They’d noticed exactly what she was doing. They’d clocked it the moment she even tried. No, they were definitely more of a threat than Eren played them off to be. She was sure he did it on purpose. In fact, if she would hazard a guess, she’d say that every person in the building was dangerous. For a moment she wished she had someone, anyone to help watch her back.

She averted her gaze as she heard Sasha and Conny start up the game again, they’d dismissed her too, she guessed she wasn’t even a threat to them either.

With that thought, she fed the simmering anger she held deep in her gut and she looked back toward Eren, his back straight and his strides lengthy. He expected her to follow and listen, and so she did.

They had moved back toward the hallway and gone through the door Eren had said was the gym, but as they moved through the normal equipment, mainly leather punching bags and old weights, he led her deeper into the space to a corner that was mostly shrouded in shadows.

She paused, unsure, cautious for the first time that night. Suddenly she was very aware that she was alone with someone who she definitely knew to be a very dangerous and unpredictable man. The fear and the anticipation warred within her. It was a heady mixture, one she’d often chased in her time as a thief.

Eren moved into the shadows, and she watched him stretch up, the edge of his shirt rising so she could briefly see the smooth planes of his stomach. He arched up on his tip-toes as he reached to flip a switch. And after a moment of waiting, a massive skylight opened up, spilling moonlight down onto what looked like a sparring ring.

The moon was the brightest she’d ever seen it. It was enough that everything was still clear. She was sure that if she looked back toward Eren, even the green of his eyes would still be visible.

“That doesn’t look cheap,” She said, nodding toward the skylight.

Eren just shrugged in agreement. He seemed to settle more. There was a more centered determination in the way he held himself. He walked with a purpose, not that he hadn’t before but, here…he seemed the most comfortable.

That was a fact that could ruin her whole scheme. She knew that she was out of her element. She didn’t know the first thing about fighting other than the pointy end should aim out. She’d been in her fair share of brawls, mainly wild swings of her fists meeting faces too out of it to feel anything. So yeah, she was definitely out of her element.

She needed to study him further, needed know the way he moved and the way he fought. She had to know motives. If she was going to adapt to the game so she could win, then she had to exploit a weakness. He already knew plenty of hers.

He was light on his feet, no doubt incredibly fast and agile, he had a long reach, his biceps almost larger than her head, he was broad but also lean, truly he was in perfect shape. She didn’t know if he had any physical weakness, since there were none that she could see.

She watched as he tied his hair back into a loose bun with a strip of leather, some small strands falling out to frame his face. His back was to her as he rolled his sleeves up, and they bunched in the crook of his elbows.

She sucked in a breath when she saw the tattoos.

The most obvious were the three bands around his left forearm. She knew immediately what those were.

Usually when a thief was caught they were tattooed. One dark band per one thievery.

On the second offense they were branded again, but not on the third. On the third they usually found their way to the gallows. The loss of their life enough of a recompense for whatever it was they had stolen, be it jewels or a loaf of bread.

For Eren to have three bands around his arm…it didn’t make any sense. He should be dead.

She was lucky enough that she hadn’t been caught for thieving yet, she’d heard that the branding process was painful to say the least.

And those weren’t the only tattoos on his body. Others snaked up his forearms and disappeared under his sleeves, no doubt leading up to his shoulders.

She wondered what else was etched onto his skin that she couldn’t see.

She took one step forward, one arm raised as if to reach out to him, but he must’ve guessed what she was about to ask for he turned away from her and strutted into the ring.

Wordlessly she followed after him, her thoughts swimming as she tried to puzzle him out.

Just who was Eren Jaeger?

He cracked his neck, rolled up onto the balls of his feet and then fell naturally into a fighting stance.

 _Oh, shit. Okay this is real,_ she thought.

He was only armed with one dagger, a wicked curved piece of weaponry that she definitely didn’t want to feel the sting of.

Her mind was buzzing, she didn’t know where to look, what to do. She didn’t feel centered or ready at all.

She tried to grasp that crazy anticipation that had been stirring in her, tried to set herself back into the game that she had initiated.

That kiss in the alley seemed like a lifetime ago.

She fell into a kind of clumsy mirror of his stance, the twin daggers once again biting into the palms of her hands. A bead of sweat trailed down her neck, her legs felt jumpy like she’d burst into a full sprint at any moment.

Eren just stared, no doubt analyzing every breath, every shift of weight and she wasn’t going to lie and say it didn’t unnerve her.

Play the game, play the game, play the game, she chanted to herself. Trying to dredge up whatever confidence was left in her.

Eren must have seen it on her face, the unease, the loss of that spark that he’d grown to respect in the short time they’d known each other.

“Do you think you have it in you?” his smooth voice broke the silence. “Do you think you have the strength? The fight?”

He was goading her, honest to god trying to rile her up, trying to coax her into action. And she felt some of the weight lift off her shoulders.

She said nothing, waiting to see how far he would take it. Waiting for the small embers in her stomach to burst into a full-on inferno.

“You couldn’t take Reiner, I got you out of that fight, what makes you think you can take me?”

And she started to move.

They circled each other slowly, testing the waters. Not taking their eyes off each other.

“I don’t think you can. You’re just a girl, an adrenaline junkie looking for their next fix. Well—” he said, stretching his arms wide, “come and get it, let me show you where you really belong, at my feet”

She circled even more slowly, trying to understand his motives.

Why was he trying to coax a reaction out of her? Wouldn’t it have suited him better to fight her when she was soft, when she was cautious and afraid? What was he playing at.

And that. That was the thought that echoed in her mind as she felt the rage build up in her. What exactly was he playing at, what angle was he pushing?

She had started this game, she had set the rules and he’d met them in stride. She wanted to see him break, wanted to see him fall apart under her, but he wanted the same.

Obviously, he saw something in her, something wild and tamable and, something he wouldn’t mind stepping all over.

No, that was wrong.

Eren wasn’t playing to win, he was playing for the high. He wanted the thrill, the chase and the struggle. He was a hypocrite calling her a junkie when he was the biggest one of them all.

Oh, she could’ve laughed out loud, it all made sense now.

Eren was bored. He’d pursued her when Reiner and Bertholdt had had her cornered and he’d won too easily. He’d beat them into submission to irritate Zeke…but obviously Eren was used to winning whatever games were played between them.

So, Eren was bored. He wanted fun. He wanted a challenge.

Which is why when she chucked that dagger at his back…he had felt a rush like never before.

She and Eren were the same. They were mirrors of the same chaos. She knew with no doubt in her mind that if she had stayed on the streets a couple more years she’d be as dangerous, if not more, than he was now.

Eren knew that she wouldn’t win this fight, and she knew that this wasn’t a ‘lesson’ in any sense. They were there to play, they were there to fill whatever sick hole was gaping in the both of them that ached for a hit.

If Eren wanted her to play…well, then she’d make her move and out seduce the seducer.

Finally, finally he saw what he was looking for in her eyes. The kind of wickedness that he often struggled to hide in himself.

And as a feral grin ripped onto her face, twin daggers spinning in her hands as she pointed them at his throat, she lunged.

It was the exhilarated laugh that gave her away. Eren spun just out of her reach with incredible speed. A laugh of his own echoing hers.

She slashed too wide, her blades meeting nothing but air.

Pulling her arms closer to her body she twirled, immediately needing to duck as his fist came out of nowhere, barely crazing the side of her jaw.

For a moment, they paused. Eren inhaled quickly, gaging her response to the hit.

She looked toward the ground, probing the cut that her incisor had ripped into her cheek, tasted blood and then spat a wet glob of it toward Eren’s shoes.

When she smiled up at him once more, blood staining her lips red, he thought he’d lose his mind.

She caught him off guard, he was too distracted, and the tip of her dagger cut him right on the chest.

The cloth of his shirt split open, a thin line of blood appearing in the tear, and her eyes widened as she found out that yes, the tattoos went beyond his arms.

She wanted to sink her teeth into him and watch him squirm.

For the next moment the space was filled with nothing but harsh breaths and the zing of their daggers meeting air.

He was toying with her. Eren was not giving the fight his all or he was too distracted by the sheer ferocity in her gaze, either way he didn’t land another blow on her.

They danced around each other, his hair whipped across her face, her breaths washed across his knuckles and both their eyes shone.

It wasn’t until Eren somehow knocked one dagger from her grasp, that she staggered.

She watched it fall to the ground and she snarled and made the mistake of trying to reach for it.

He caught her around the waist. One arm going around her front, the other catching her other hand, the dagger inches away from his face.

She bucked in his grasp and inhaled sharply as he squeezed her fingers so hard she was forced to drop her last weapon.

His harsh pants were loud in her ears, her back pressed almost too tight to his body. She bucked again, trying and failing to worm out of his arms.

On the third try, as she arched her back, desperately trying to break his hold, the hitch in his breath gave him away.

A fire like no other shot up her spine and she stilled. Waiting, catching her breath. Did she imagine the way he hissed through his teeth, the way his arm clenched tightly around her middle, the way he slightly, slightly, shifted his pelvis away from the lower half of her body?

No… she didn’t think she imagined it at all.

If Eren could’ve seen the grin that curled onto her mouth, he surely would’ve dropped everything and given her anything she’d asked…and more.

The girl relaxed slowly, attempting to break his hold again and again, rolling her hips softly against his, arching her back against the band of his arm that had moved just under her breasts, throwing her head back to try and catch his eyes.

Eren had his eyes closed, harsh breaths coming through his nose, trying not to move his hips up to meet hers every time she bucked in his hold. It took more willpower than he thought it would.

The girl smiled, and reached for his hand, the one that was still gripping her fingers too tight. She pulled it toward her chest, just noticing how much smaller hers were compared to his.

She slid his hand up her side and let him feel the curve of her waist as she dragged the hand higher, up between her breasts, up against her throat, pausing a moment to put more pressure on his hand so he’d force her head to tilt back onto his shoulder, and then she brought it up to her mouth.

As she let her gaze study his profile, the nose, the soft eyelashes, the parted lips…she slowly, so slowly, brought one of his fingers into the heat of her mouth.

The way his eyes crinkled shut, a gasp leaving his clenched teeth, she knew she had him, if only for a moment.

With the slightest touch she sucked on the digit, her eyes growing hooded as she felt her own body melt against his ever so slightly. She almost didn’t notice the way her own hips hadn’t stopped pressing back into him, and she tried to stop, she really did.

She hummed around his finger, getting lost in the feel of it, she had to pull back, breathe for a moment.

His hand left a cool trail of spit down her chin as she fit it over her throat. She felt him flex, felt him squeeze gently down on her as she looked back toward his face, wanting to see him unravel.

What she didn’t expect was to meet his gaze, and she sucked in a startled breath as the bright green of his eyes met hers right on. He had caught on, he had snapped out of whatever haze she’d tried to put him in.

“Eren” she gasped, feeling his hand squeeze even a bit harder against her throat, and then she stilled as she felt the arm that held her against him start to lower.

“Eren” she gasped again as his fingers reached the top of her pants, sliding teasingly across the exposed skin there.

He hadn’t looked away from her, but his eyes had grown darker, and they moved calmly over her changing expressions. He saw the furrow in her brow, the nervousness, but he also saw the tension in her jaw, the stubbornness, and then he saw the quiver to her lips, the lust written plainly on her face.

It seemed they had both found their match. Both of them pretending they weren’t one second away from snapping and throwing themselves at each other.

Eren moved his hand even lower, untying her pants at the front and then slowly moving his hand to cup the wet heat of her.

She was panting, half of her wanting to throw him off and retaliate, the other half so so needy for him that she never wanted him to stop touching her.

“Eren” she gasped one more time, and he squeezed her throat, and shushed her as he bent to kiss her gently on the cheek. The moment his lips met her skin, his fingers slipped between her folds.

She arched against him, a high whine leaving her lips as he started to massage her clit.

He was panting behind her, his hot breath hitting her neck and making her shiver, it was too much, with the warmth of one hand at her throat, his lips dragging open mouthed kisses down the side of her face and a hand drawing lazy circles around her clit, it was too much.

She chased the pleasure, her hips no longer trying to break his hold but surging up to meet it. She didn’t know it could feel like this, she didn’t know she could offer surrender in this way.

Were they still playing?

When he bit down lightly on her earlobe she reached up blindly, grasping at his hair as she tried to bring his mouth closer to hers.

“Kiss me” she breathed.

And he did.

His thumb once more held under her chin, her face was tilted up to meet his and their lips slanted together. It was messy and sloppy, and she couldn’t breathe because something was building in her.

She nipped at his lips and her hips stuttered and she chased a high she’d never before experienced in her life.

Eren was plunging his fingers in and out of her, she could hear the sound of his fingers sliding through her wetness and it made her shudder.

She couldn’t get enough of him. She wanted him to take her, to snap her in half and make her beg for it. She didn’t even care at this point.

But, as she gasped into his mouth, too lost to even try and kiss him properly, he slipped his thumb into her mouth.

The fingers inside of her were pumped faster, brushing up against the bundle of nerves at the apex of her thighs, making her legs quiver…but it was his thumb that shook her out of it.

As she rolled her hips, lost in the frenzy of lust, letting her mouth sit open for him to use as he wished, she met his eyes, which were not as hooded as hers.

She saw the smirk that sat in the corner of his mouth and everything stopped for a moment.

The bastard was winning. The fucking bastard was going to chase her all the way to orgasm and then sit there, high off the adrenaline of making her submit.

No.

No way in hell was she going to take this lying down. If he wanted her to spread her legs for him, then he’d have to work a hell of a lot harder.

It was hard to calm down, hard to remove herself from the heat building up in her but she tried.

Her hips slowed, her breaths got more steadied and she watched as a little light of confusion filtered into his eyes. Good.

She closed her mouth around his thumb once more, and then let it pop free.

Slowly, his fingers stopped, and his hand pulled out from her pants.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, brushing the backs of his knuckles across her cheek.

He was sweet when he wanted to be.

Her hands were still tangled in his hair, so she brought his head down closer to her mouth, “let me look at you as you make me fall apart” She whispered, leaving a wet kiss on his cheek.

Eren’s green eyes searched hers, no doubt looking for the trick. Looking for the hidden motive… and she really hoped her lust filled gaze was enough to hide the mischief in it. Her breath was still warm between them and his hand was drawing circles against the chilled skin of her stomach.

Her eyes fluttered, gods, she was positively aching for him.

She exhaled shakily, steeling herself, dredging up that confidence that she needed.

Eren shivered as she turned in his grip, his eyes getting even darker, now a beautiful shade of forest green, and she gasped as she felt his erection against the soft plane of her stomach.

Her hands fit against his broad shoulders, and her thumbs pressed delicately into his collar bones. She stretched up on her tip-toes, both of them sucking in air through their teeth at the feel of Eren thick and throbbing between them.

She mouthed just under his jaw, blowing air on the wet spots she left behind, and at once noticed the dark purple bruise on his neck. The bruise that undoubtedly was caused by her own teeth the night before.

 _That_ made her vision swim and had heat pooling in her gut. The fact that Eren, powerful, dangerous Eren, had been walking around all day with her teeth imprinted in his neck like a claim.

And she was startled to realize that maybe they fit together perfectly after all. Just as surely as she couldn’t keep her eyes and thoughts of off him, just as surely as they chased the same high and had the same wickedness in their eyes…Eren had been wearing her mark like it belonged on him. Like he was shouting “I found someone who would dare to lunge for _my_ throat”

_Gods—anyone—let her keep him._

She could read it in his eyes, and he could probably read it in hers, the fact that they had both acknowledged they were cut from the same cloth.

It made her feel seen.

How had she only known this beautiful boy for a day?

The challenge still shone in his eyes as he pressed the softest kiss imaginable against the palm of her hand, and like he had before, she brushed the backs of her knuckles across his cheek.

“I see you.” He hummed, nipping at her bottom lip playfully.

She smirked, “and I see you.”

When he felt the soft pressure of her hand against his chest, he went easily to the ground.

He laid on his back, the moonlight throwing shadows across his face like he was made of marble, or starlight, or something else poetic.

She paused a moment, drinking in the image of him laid out before her, the power she felt standing over him. Eren smiled, that soft smile that kept stealing her breath from her and pulled her down to meet her in a kiss.

Her legs parted on either side of him, her lips capturing his easily, and they slid together like they were meant for each other. And maybe they were.

She rocked back against him, swallowing the groan that left Eren’s mouth. She could feel the heat of his length right at her center, and she couldn’t have stopped herself if she tried. Her hips ground down against his, drawing gasps and broken pants from his glistening lips.

Was this true pleasure? Was this everything she’d ever chased?

“Eren” she gasped, arching as he cupped her breasts in his hands.

He swiped at her hardened nipples through her shirt, making a high-pitched whine slip out of her, “What is it, sweet girl?” he said. It was whispered between them, like a secret.

“Eren” she gasped again, practically writhing against his body, her hips picking up speed as she chased her orgasm.

She could see the head of his cock peaking over the waistband of his pants and it was leaking against his stomach.

Trailing a nail down the center of his chest, she swiveled her hips, watching as Eren threw back his head, letting out a sinful low groan for her.

She rucked up his shirt, pushing it until it was just under his arms, wanting to see the way his body blushed under her movements.

His tattoos spread down across his shoulders and then stopped just under his sternum and she traced them idly as she moved against him.

Her eyes kept straying back to his leaking cock. And she paid attention to the way Eren’s breath hitched every time she slid herself closer to the head.

Every time the thrust of her hips hit the head of his cock Eren would gasp these shallow breaths, his eyes would scrunch up, and at one point his mouth fell open and a string of curses tumbled out.

 _Oh,_ she liked this type of pleasure.

She wanted to make him unravel. Wanted to make him beg in every sense of the word.

But Eren caught her flickering glances, the ones between his cock and his mouth. He felt how her hips were slowing and saw a kind of fire grow in her eyes.

If he wasn’t so desperate for relief, he would’ve cupped her face in his palms just to tell her how fucking breathtaking she was.

He could read her like a book. So, as she made to slide down his body, he rushed to stop her.

Eren pressed a thumb up against her clothed clit, messaging a sensual circle as he tried to draw her attention back to him. “No” he mumbled, trying to draw her hips back over his.

She quirked an eyebrow. “No?” she asked, letting him continue to play with the bundle of nerves for a moment.

Every touch felt electric, but she wasn’t ready to let go just yet.

“Hm” she hummed, a grin on her face, “Eren said no so…I should probably do the exact opposite, right?”

He didn’t like that, in fact Eren practically pouted, the adorable bastard.

“Stay here.” He breathed, reaching for her.

But she was too quick, in one motion she had brought out her secret weapon.

The secret weapon being the dagger she now held at his throat. _His_ dagger to be precise.

The curve of the blade looked downright _sinful_ against the bobbing of his throat.

Eren smiled.

He pulled his hands back, showing a sign of surrender, but his bright eyes never left hers.

She used the tip of the dagger to angle his head up, to show off the long lines of his neck, to make himself vulnerable to her. If he really wanted to, Eren could probably throw her off and have her pinned in an instant, but he was letting her have her fun.

“Let me win, Eren.” she breathed out, “I-I…let me win.”

He cocked his head to the side, trying to understand, and then he softened.

“I need this—” she continued, a sort of desperation seeping into her voice, “I—”

“Okay.”

She blinked owlishly back at him. “Okay?”

He saw her like no other, he _understood._

She needed to win. She needed to because Eren had already gotten his high.

They’d played their game of cat and mouse and he’d cornered her here. But for the _full_ seduction, for the submission, she wanted to win because winning was all she had.

It was the only comfort ever afforded to her as an outcast wandering from town to town, living off faked touches and lousy bar fights. Winning made her feel worthwhile.

And Eren saw that. Eren understood. They both would get what they came there for…and if there was an ‘after’ for people like them, well they’d get to that eventually.

“Okay.” Eren whispered, warm hands running up the sides of her legs like she didn’t still hold a knife to his throat.

She let him read the all-consuming ‘thanks’ on her face, not needing to voice it out loud when he could see straight through her.

The sound of the dagger hitting the floor didn’t make either of them flinch.

She sat back, still straddling his hips so she could pull her shirt over her head, her nipples hardening once more at the cool air.

She looked down at him, at his tousled hair, mussed shirt, glimmering eyes, and she thought _don’t let this be the only time._

Without breaking eye contact she slid down his body, and he hissed as she bit and nipped at the skin of his hip, but then sighed as she soothed him over with a flick of her tongue.

He lifted his hips so she could push his pants down his legs and she looked up at him as his cock slid free.

It curved up against his belly and she watched as what little light there was in the room reflected off his damp skin.

Biting her lips, flickering her eyes over his lithe form once more, she bent down and licked a bold stripe up the underside of him.

Eren gasped, his legs jerking up and she closed her eyes to savor the first taste of him.

She may not know exactly what true pleasure was for herself, but she knew how to draw it out of someone else.

She put more of her weight across his legs, and kitten licked at the underside of his head and she listened to what little sounds she’d heard above her.

For a moment, she just let him sit there, heavy in her mouth. _Gods, did she want to remember the feeling of him down her throat._

Eren cursed her again, abdominal muscles flexing as she sucked ever so gently on his tip.

She was being a tease and she knew it. His eyes were ablaze, and his hands were moving around, no doubt looking for something to hold on to. The heat that shot through her as she realized he was trying not to grab her by the hair made her eyes flutter.

Yes, she’d let Eren Jaeger fuck her mouth if he asked nicely.

Choosing not to torment him even longer, she hummed again, enjoying the way his cock twitched in her mouth and then practically swallowed him down her throat.

Eren threw his head back and stared down at her, absolutely wrecked already.

She did it again, moving back to the tip and then pulling him down her throat. She bobbed, once, twice, three times and then pulled off of him, tears prickling in the corners of her eyes.

God, Eren was a lucky lucky man.

He watched her suck his dick like she was trying to end his life right there. He mused that if he died in the middle of the best goddamn blowjob of his life he wouldn’t be exactly upset.

She was licking broad stripes up the side of his cock, fingers messaging his inner thighs, and then he gasped again as she reached up to fondle his balls.

She laughed lightly when she finally felt his hands slide into her hair. He wasn’t rough about it in the least, thought she knew he could be.

He stroked through the fine strands of her hair, gasping and panting as she pulled him down her throat again and again.

“Gods, let me—let me touch you. Ple—” Eren was mumbling, goddamn mumbling, his head thrown back and moving side to side like he was trying to clear his thoughts, “come here, c-come here, sweet girl” he sucked in air.

He groaned again, the end turning into a sort of whine as she hummed around his cock, the vibrations shooting up his spine like lightning.

She could feel him approaching his end, and so she kept her pace, twirling her tongue around his slit and sucking him down. She clenched her thighs as she felt the wetness pooling in her underwear.

“I’m going to—” he gasped, “I’m- _please_ , let me—I—”

If Eren was gorgeous before, it was nothing compared to him panting and writhing above her in pleasure. He was a gorgeous mess.

“S-so close, so—you’re mouth, so hot, _warm_ ,I—”

His hands kept tugging on her hair, trying to bring her up to his face, wanting her closer, but then tugging her down so he could get as far down her throat as he could. He couldn’t make sense of it, how he wanted to wreck her but also be wrecked _by_ her.

“Eren, do you feel good?” she asked, not letting him answer before she was swallowing him down again.

Eren choked. “Yes—yes, yes oh _gods_ , yes—s-so good, I’m gonna cum. I—let me—please open— open your mouth— _yes_ , ju—like that, sweet g-girl.”

He could barely keep his eyes on her, but he held her steady with the hands buried in her hair. Eren had taken one look her with her mouth open, tongue out and waiting patiently for him to cum down her throat before he groaned and turned his head to the side.

The girl smiled and then wiggled her tongue lightly on the underside of cock and then Eren was undone.

He inhaled sharply, neck straining as his eyes screwed shut and he painted her face in thick white ropes. Eren let out one long groan, chest heaving up and down as he finished in her mouth.

She watched it all play out in rapt attention, trying to commit it to memory. Trying to memorize the exact way his groan turned into a little whimper, and the way a blush started under his neck and moved down his tattooed chest. She just wanted to remember _him_.

And when he finally came down from it, he reached for her. She moved up his body, used her shirt to wipe off her face and then held herself above him, her hair lightly falling down around them.

Eren looked soft. Something gentle sat in the corner of his mouth as he reached up and cupped her face in his hands. “You’re absolutely breathtaking.”

And then she knew that a small part of her had already fallen in love with the oaf.

“Stop it” she chuckled, nudging her forehead against his.

Eren most definitely almost said ‘make me’, but then thought better of it. No doubt the menace of a girl would take it literally.

He moved a piece of hair behind her ear and then frowned.

Slowly, Eren trailed his hand down her side, reaching up to kiss her on the neck before he went to return the favor.

As his fingers dipped below the waistband of her underwear, a hand stopped him and he pulled back.

“Let me—”

“You don’t need—”

They spoke at the same time and then laughed.

She pulled his hand between them and then lightly kissed his knuckles, “You don’t need to…return the favor, Eren, it’s okay.”

And when he went to argue she shushed him, “No, I swear it’s okay, I-I’m happy.”

She _was_ happy she realized. Something about Eren just…made her happy. And if she wanted to puzzle out the ‘why’s’ later she could, but right now? She just wanted him to hold her.

He must have been thinking the same thing because he pulled her to his chest, tucking her head under his chin and then they just let themselves breathe for a moment. The moon had risen directly over their skylight and it looked downright incredible.

“Tell me about your band of misfits” she said.

And her whole body shook as Eren laughed, “My band of misfits? You mean my horribly intimidating and scary gang?”

“yeah, them.”

And then they sat there until the early hours of the morning.

Eren told her about growing up alone, finding his friends who then became his family. He told her wild stories about trying to make the stoic Mikasa laugh, accidentally getting coffee on one of Armin’s books and making him cry, trading quips with Jean until they passed out, a massive food fight with Sasha and Conny that turned into an actual fight when Eren threw the wrong loaf of bread that was meant for Sasha’s midnight snack.

Eren even told her about Zeke, how he ran the western territory and then about Erwin and Levi who ran the North, ‘they’re fucking scary and old as shit’ was what he said.

She laughed at one point until she got a cramp in her side and then Eren refused to message it out of her and just kept making her laugh until she literally had to sock him one in the jaw.

And when they heard movement coming from the other side of the gym (it was Armin, who she had the pleasure of meeting half naked and sprawled on top of Eren at 6 in the morning ), they got up and Eren fed her a lovely breakfast of cold oatmeal and burnt toast.

His one weakness seemed to be that he was a shit cook and would most definitely die if left to fend for himself in the wild.

And then Eren walked her back to the inn, he pointed out his favorite places in Shiganshina, the café that served good sweet bread, the tavern that had the coldest ale, the park that always had live music every Wednesday, and she saw the entire city in a new light thanks to him.

He kissed her goodbye at the door, a light peck of a thing that left her lightheaded. She blearily waved at him as he turned the corner on the street, laughing as he accidentally hit the doorframe on the way out. Guess he couldn’t wave and walk at the same time either.

She finally went to sleep with a smile on her face, smelling of sweat and steel and other things.

So, it was a big surprise when she heard pounding at her door not three hours later.

The morning rays of sun made her squint as she tried to reach for the door.

Was Eren back already?

She cocked her hip, blew hair out of her face and got ready to pull him inside by the ears for waking her up _three fucking hours_ after he left her.

But as she swung the door open, she paused mid breath…it wasn’t Eren at the door.

She recognized only one of them, and her heart stopped cold.

He looked different sober than when she had swindled him out of his twin set of daggers.

Her hands reached for them instinctively at her thighs, but she cursed when she realized they were lying somewhere on the floor of Eren’s gym.

The man pointed one meaty finger at her and said, “That’s her officers, that’s the thief.”

Eren had sold her out.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HI so sorry this took me so long haha I've just been buried in school and work stuff.   
> thanks to everyone that's read it so far and I really hope you enjoy the third and final part!
> 
> I had a lot of fun writing this. Just....Eren as a cocky little shit, covered in tattoos and blood ???? I had to write it down lmao. 
> 
> HAve fun :)

She knew that one day she’d see the inside of a prison cell, only she didn’t expect it to be this soon…or for it to be this cold.

The rough stone of the floor felt like it was draining the warmth right out of her. She shifted, trying to shake the numbness from her legs.

It had probably been about three hours since she was dragged kicking and screaming from her place at the Inn.

She had no room in her to feel embarrassed by the looks she received on the way out, though she did feel a bit smug about the fact that she spat in the face of some leering asshole…who then laughed at _her_ when she was shoved into the back of a prison wagon in heavy irons.

The only feeling she had roiling in her gut was hot blooded _rage_.

And she knew exactly where to point it.

Particularly, at the green-eyed bastard taking up too much space in her brain.

Any and all thoughts surrounding _Eren Jaeger_ that didn’t involve bloodshed, knives, and the face he’d make with a straight kick to the balls were immediately shot down.

Her hands were itching to hold a dagger to the bastard’s throat…again.

But right then, her hands were kind of shaking too much for her to so much as grab the bowl of water next to her on the floor.

When the police had first chucked her into the small cell she laughed at them for not chaining her to the wall (she thought she deserved something more than just handcuffs) but her wrists were now rubbed raw just from them being tied in front of her.

And the way they started shaking made half the grimy drinking water she was given end up down her shirt rather than her throat.

So…basically she wasn’t enjoying her time in prison.

Although, the hours went by pretty fast when one was planning revenge.

She still couldn’t make sense of it. _Why_ had Eren sold her out. What did he gain from it?

Obviously, he knew from the first moment he met her that the daggers on her hips were stolen. She had stolen them from some lowly drunkard on the side of the road, who probably had no idea he’d even been relieved of his daggers until his next brief moment of sobriety.

Which meant that somebody had sobered him up, and somebody had told him all about her thieving. 

Deep down she knew the answer. She knew why Eren had sold her out, but she was too much of a coward to confront it head on.

But, by every hour they let her stew in the cell, every hour she spent thinking and thinking and _fucking thinking_ made the answers come closer to the forefront of her brain.

After all, why should she even be surprised with the ‘why’s’ and the ‘what if’s’…she chose to trust somebody, and it bit her in the ass, like always.

She was a goddamn fool to think she had won anything.

The sudden jangle of keys was what drew her attention to the men who were entering her cell.

“It’s about time” she grumbled, trying to prop herself up in a better position. She wasn’t sure what to expect from them but knew that whatever it was wasn’t going to be pleasant.

She had vague ideas about what happened to thieves in jail.

“Get her up”

The rough hands under her elbows made the raw skin of her wrists cut into the metal handcuffs and she cried out, attempting to kick out with her feet but they were too strong and soon she was barely touching the ground.

There were three of them. Dingy, dirty and smelling so much of sweat and shit that it made her empty stomach heave. No doubt their fingers were leaving streaks of dirt on her skin, along with purple bruises with how hard they were holding her.

They slammed her down onto her knees before them, and she spat at their feet, chest heaving and arms straining against their metal cuffs.

A man cleared his throat and then stepped out in front of her, pulling out a small notebook that looked to be about 5,000 years old. “We have you in custody for thievery and disrupting the—”

“Fuck you.”

“—peace.” He finished and then shot her an unimpressed look over the rim of his glasses.

He continued “We have more than sufficient evidence to convict you, see here the testimony from the key eyewitness, and thus, to resolve this matter quickly, you will be branded and then sent on your way—”

“Now—wait a minute, I—”

“—you will then be forever marked as a thief, and all that see you will know to be wary and watch their valuables, etcetera, etcetera…blah, blah… yes—” he hummed, “any questions or concerns?”

What a dick.

“Yes, you fucking imbecile I do have some concerns. For one, I don’t really fancy getting _branded_ a thief, and two—”

“I’m afraid that’s all we have time for today, dear.”

With that, two meaty palms clamped down onto her shoulders, and her knees positively ached from being pressed into the hard ground. The man with the notebook stepped back, and the third guy wheeled some wicked looking contraption into the space.

It was a rickety wooden cart, the only things on it being a bowl of some dark liquid that had stained the wood a black darker than night, and a paddle of sorts that was covered in metal needles of varying sizes.

She gulped.

The third man hooked her cuffed hands around a hook embedded in the cart and then began pouring the silky black ink onto the paddle. The ink spilled around the sharpened points, running down his own sausage-like fingers and pooling into the fabric of her pants.

The kind of nauseous fear she was feeling in her gut was something she’d give anything to never feel again. It was a kind of fear she was not familiar with, because in that moment she knew for certain that there was no way to sweet talk her way out of the pain that was coming her way. 

She knew that what followed was the slam of the paddle into the flesh of her arm over and over again until the brand of the ink was stark against the skin. The only break she’d get was the brief moment the man would take to pour more black ink onto the pins.

She wondered what it would look like when mixing ink and blood.

“Just tell me one thing,” she gasped, bracing her arms, her back, her jaw anything to prepare for what was to come, “who was it that sent you my way, who’s the one with the loose lips looking for a beating?”

The man quirked one eyebrow, no doubt either applauding her for her cocksure attitude or judging her for it, “Why do you need to know?”

“Tell me, old man.” She snapped.

“We weren’t given much information, but the name was one I’d sooner forget.” At that, he actually looked a bit worried, “it was…Jaeger, to be sure.”

And truly, she felt something come loose in her chest, a kind of sharp relief.

At least now she knew that she had been played, the green-eyed bastard had got her good.

And it hurt. It hurt more than the slam of the needles breaking into the skin of her arm.

At the first burst of _physical_ pain, a grin curved onto her lips.

She screamed again, watching the black pool with the red.

Gods, she hoped _he_ had screamed too.

They tossed her onto the street like a bucket of waste. The breath got knocked out of her and the stark blue of the sky made stars shine in her eyes. A pounding headache settled in behind her brow and she groaned as she attempted to shove herself up, at least so she wouldn’t get trampled to death by a stray cart or buggy. Now that would be a shit way to die.

A humorless laugh left her as her injured arm crumpled under her weight. It was throbbing to the beat of her heart and felt a bit like it was on fire, she tried her best not to look right at it. She wasn’t quite ready to see it.

So, as she laid there in the middle of the street, people maneuvering around her like she was a rock in a stream, the girl sighed and then laughed…and then cursed herself again for being an idiot who’s one bout of trust ended in betrayal.

And then she startled as a hand shot out in front of her face and waved around like it was trying to get her attention. And damn, if it didn’t make her headache 10 times worse. She slapped it out of her way, huffing out a breath when the owner of said hand let out a yelp.

The hand shot out again, and this time it grabbed her by the front of her shirt and yanked her a bit off the ground.

“Ugh, I-I’ll kill you, fuck off.” She groaned, arms dangling uselessly by her sides. _just let me sleep_ she thought.

“Wow, you smell like shit, and you got blood on my shirt, disgus—”

“Shut up, Jean. Just get her up and let’s get out of here.”

She most definitely knew those voices. And as she made her eyes focus on the two heads swimming in her field of vision she groaned again, “I smell like shit? When’s the last time you took a bath, horse-face? Guess nobody notices the stink when they’re stuck on the mess you’re callin’ a beard.” She slurred, an odd tilted smirk to her lips.

Jean snarled, “ _I swear to fucking god, I will end you—_ ”

“Jean” the other voice warned.

“— _it’s a goatee.”_

The girl just chuckled and tried to get as much blood and black sludge on the front of Jean’s shirt as he hefted her into his arms.

She’d never noticed how freakishly tall the asshole was until she looked down and saw how far away the ground was.

Jean weaved between the throngs of people on the sidewalk, following what she assumed to be Mikasa’s head, but the other girl was sure moving fast.

She couldn’t follow the black head of hair even if she had tried, she sure as hell didn’t know how Jean was doing it.

Although her arm was still throbbing and felt sticky with blood, she felt her wits coming back to her the further away they got from people. The shadows of the back streets helped cool her face, and the steady beat of Jean’s footsteps let her headache clear away. She wondered if she was secretly bleeding out and nobody had told her.

But as her head grew clearer, so did her confusion grow. _Where the hell were they taking her? Back to Eren? Was it some overreaching plot to prove that he’d beat her? Was it just another sick move in his game?_

It was sad to say, but the girl had almost had her full of games.

That coil of rage in her gut let her know that she had it in her for one more. She was going to have the last laugh even if it killed her.

By the worried glances Jean kept shooting down at her he was definitely freaked out by her silence. He could see the wicked schemes growing in her eyes and he’d be an idiot to ignore them. For once, he wasn’t jealous of the shit Eren had dragged back with him, Jaeger was some kind of danger magnet and Jean wanted nothing to do with it.

Jean cringed as he felt something seep into the sleeves of his shirt, and she wondered if he proffered it to be blood or ink. Not that he’d do anything but chuck it in the corner of a room for somebody else to clean probably.

All three of them sighed as they finally saw the dingy doorway and knew they had reached their destination.

Mikasa shouldered her way into the space, Jean following right behind her, not apologizing when he almost dropped the body in his arms and then smacked her head on the corner of the door.

She was cursing him the entire way in, making sure her good elbow was digging into his side, all the while noticing the dimmed lights and the empty-ness of the place. It seemed almost… _lonely._ Or it was missing some kind of spark from the last time she’d visited. Which she completely forgot was only a handful of hours ago.

Jean and Mikasa brought her to the common room where she was unceremoniously dumped onto a couch which swallowed her whole and smelled like spoiled cheese.

She inhaled through her teeth as she tried to get comfortable, all the while trying to understand what the hell was going on.

Mikasa had stopped across from her and crossed her arms. She left a scratched glass coffee table between them. Jean had slouched down into an arm chair to her right, sighing as he tried to relax. Although, Mikasa did scoff and kick him when he tried to throw his feet up on the table. There had to be _years_ of mud caked onto the bottom of Jean’s boots, she crinkled her nose.

It was too quiet, like none of them knew what they were doing. She almost wished Sasha and Conny were there from the other night, just so the noisy sounds of their pool game could make the awkwardness go away.

She cleared her throat, leveling Mikasa with a stare, “What am I doing here?”

Mikasa said nothing, her eyes unreadable, and then reached behind her back and tossed two twin daggers onto the table between them.

The daggers were still wickedly sharp, just as they’d been when she had last seen them, when she’d last tried to kill Eren with them.

If she looked close enough she might have noticed that they were a little bit sharper, a little bit brighter, like someone had polished them while she was gone.

“My daggers.” She said, and then hissed as she reached for them both and caught sight of the mess on her arm. At least her fingers only shook a little this time, that’s how she knew the shock was wearing off.

“Tch,” Jean scoffed, eyes pointedly looking at the stark black thief brand on her forearm.

“They’re _mine.”_ The girl growled and clenched her hands hard enough around the hilts that she flinched.

“We need to get that wound dressed before—”

“Where is he.”

She was at the end of her leash as it was, but the fact that they returned her daggers to her _after_ she’d just been imprisoned on their leader’s order…well it was just enough to tick her off.

It was a sick sort of power trip Eren was trying to play. He had broken down her defenses, cut his way inside and then hit her where it hurt. And now he was rubbing salt in the wound.

“ _Where is he.”_

Mikasa arched a brow, but her expression didn’t change.

“I’m tired of this.”

At that, Mikasa’s eyes softened. She recognized something in the injured girl’s words, but just as she opened her mouth to reply another figure walked into the room.

The shorter figure was hard to see behind the bundle of rags he carried in his arms. Only the top of his blonde head was seen over the pile, and it was unspooling in a line behind him as he made his way into the room. The girl tried not to laugh but then couldn’t hold it in when she saw another figure trailing behind the first, struggling to pick up the spilled rags.

Armin sat down on the coffee table and dropped whatever was left in his arms on the space next to him. Given that she’d only seen him once before, and she’d been half naked sprawled out on top of Eren, she wasn’t surprised by the light blush on his cheeks. He couldn’t really manage to look her in the eye yet either.

“Marco!” Jean yelled, making them all jump, “I got blood all over my shirt, can you clean it for me?”

She, Armin and Mikasa all groaned in unison, and it was Marco who tripped on the edge of the couch when he was met with a face full of Jean’s sweaty ripped shirt. Marco caught himself before he face-planted directly into her lap and she blinked up at him, surprised by the splattering of freckles and the shine to his boyish brown eyes.

“Sorry” Marco said, and then moved to sit next to Armin, throwing Jean’s shirt over his shoulder like a dish towel. A smile kept braking out on his face every time Jean tried to kick him off the coffee table.

“Does it still hurt?”

“What?”

Armin laughed, and reached slowly for her arm, turning it here and there to see it better in the dim lighting, “I asked if it still hurt.”

“Oh” she trailed off, and then finally looked down at her forearm.

It was a mess of black ink and looked like a splotchy thick line around her entire forearm. The skin on either side of the mark was red and irritated.

Even as she lightly traced over the flesh with her fingers she thought she could feel heat coming off of it, like her body was in overdrive to heal it for her.

“No, it doesn’t hurt” she lied.

Armin’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. He dipped a thick towel in some water Mikasa had brought over and began wiping off the excess ink and blood, which made her suck in air through her teeth.

She startled when Marco reached over and grabbed her injured hand. She blinked back at him, now too surprised to even feel the scratch of the towel on her arm. Marco just smiled and squeezed her fingers.

He must have read the confusion in her eyes. “We all helped Eren through this too when he was arrested the first time.”

Her eyes hardened, and she yanked her hand out of his.

Marco’s eyes went wide, “Oh! I’m sorry—”

“I’m leaving.”

Armin made to grab her by the sleeve but cried out when she slapped his hand away.

Someone clamped down hard on her shoulders so she couldn’t get up and she looked back to see Mikasa staring down at her. Mikasa’s expression hadn’t changed the entire time she’d known the girl and yet she could read the caution in her eyes well enough.

“Let go of me.” Mikasa’s fingers dug bruises into her shoulders, and the girl snarled.

“Eren told us to bring you here—”

“Yeah? Well Eren can go fuck himself”

Mikasa wouldn’t let her get off the couch.

“Let us just wrap your arm—” Armin was reaching for her again, his blue eyes wide, but she wrenched her way out of Mikasa’s hold, knowing just by the feel of it that she’d have bruises toorrow and lunged for her daggers on the table.

All of them stopped cold as they heard the telltale _click_ of somebody flicking back the safety on their gun.

She met Jean’s eyes as he leveled a pistol at her head.

“You wouldn’t dare.” She barked.

“Try me.” Jean smirked, finger inching dangerously close to the trigger. She didn’t want to call his bluff…but she might just have to. Although she thought, if it _really_ came down to it, she didn’t think Jean could shoot her dead in the face….but Mikasa on the other hand…

She looked at each of their faces and came to a conclusion. Trying to fight her way out was a joke. Even Marco could probably take her down in seconds flat.

But when had she ever taken the smart way out?

“That’s enough.”

Her breath caught in her throat. Everyone stopped for a second, and she watched as Jean’s gaze swiveled to the voice behind her, his eyes squinting in confusion before widening in surprise.

“Eren!” Mikasa gasped.

The others stood up as one and then rushed toward Eren by the doorway, leaving her there on the couch alone. She didn’t know whether to dive for her daggers and make use of the distraction to escape, or to stand and fight.

She knew the second she turned around and saw the bastards face she’d aim a dagger between his eyes, and maybe this time she’d get lucky.

The couch sank under her weight as she tried to fight the urge to turn around, anything to postpone whatever shit that was about to happen. She desperately wanted to tap into that righteous anger she’d felt while in prison…and she could feel it simmering in her gut.

_I want to make him cry_ she thought. _I want to hear him scream_.

Did it hurt him just as much as it hurt her?

“Eren, holy shit—” Jean’s voice broke the silence. Something had happened, there was a weird tension in the air.

“What?” Eren laughed weakly, and then he coughed “Were you going to splatter her brains across the carpet? You know how long that took to get out last time.”

No one said anything. Although, Jean did click the safety back on his gun, like it was even a threat in the first place.

“Eren—” Armin paused, “—you’re bleeding.”

And that got her.

She couldn’t help but turn around.

He was leaning heavily against the doorway with his hair hanging in his face and an arm held around his stomach. She could see the blood dripping down his chin from there. Eren’s clothes were dirtied and ripped here and there. The only thing that didn’t look messed up was the flashing silver chain still around his neck.

Eren made to swipe at the blood with his sleeve but then winced when he lifted his arm too quickly.

She swore she almost saw his knees buckle. It made her even more angry at him.

“Where were you.” She croaked.

Green eyes snapped to meet hers and they were just as bright as she remembered.

“Did you do this to me?”

She could see the way his eyes widened even from the couch. His blood ran a red line from his split lip all the way to his chest.

“w-what? No, I—” he stuttered, for the first time at a loss for words.

“Don’t bullshit me, Eren” she bit out. “I sat in that fucking cell for hours, I-I sat through the pain, the _humiliation_ …and look what it got me!”

One moment she was fuming at him from the couch, the next she had a dagger pointed at his chest.

His face looked worse up close. One lip was definitely split and bright red with fresh blood, there was a bruise already purpling by the corner of an eye, and she’d bet good money that his torso was also a mess of bruises. Eren’s breathing was a bit too labored to be normal, but it didn’t hitch or change even when he felt the prick of steel against his skin.

It was Mikasa this time who leveled a gun at her head. As the tip of her dagger hit Eren’s chest, she felt the cold metal of the barrel press against the back of her skull. She had no doubt that Mikasa would shoot her dead to protect Eren. Maybe they’d all shoot her dead to protect him, what the hell did she know anyway.

“Look what it got me, _Jaeger_ ” she spat, pushing the tip of her dagger even further into his chest.

She shoved her wounded arm under his eyes, hoping he could feel the heat coming off of it against his face.

Eren’s eyes never strayed from hers, “Mikasa, put the gun down.”

“But—”

“Do it.”

Mikasa lowered the gun but didn’t move back.

A drop of blood showed through the dark fabric of his shirt, and she reveled in it all the same. There was a smirk on her face, but she knew Eren could see it for what it really was. She had been broken just a little bit and she wanted him to bleed out on her pieces.

“I know.” He whispered, breath sticky against her skin. “I know”

_Of course he fucking knew, he’s the one who did it._

“Did you scream?” she thanked whatever gods were out there that she didn’t cry, “Did you cry? Do you even feel pain, Eren?” she sucked in breath, and her dagger pushed into his flesh just a little bit deeper “…because I did…I do…I feel too much.”

"I—” Eren started, and tried to move closer to her, gather her in his arms, do _something_ despite the knife in her hand.

“ _Enough.”_

She grabbed a handful of his shirt and moved the dagger up under his chin, and Eren did nothing but let his head fall back, let his green eyes ruin her forever.

“I should kill you, you know?” she laughed, and then felt a tear in the corner of her eye, “I’ve done it before.” She flinched at the memories of dark spaces and rough hands and her nails digging into flesh until blood stained her hands “I could do it again”

“Eren—” Armin warned, but Eren held up a hand and made him wait.

Green eyes flickered across her expression and lingered on the twisted line of her mouth and then the tears glistening in the corners of her eyes, and he softened. “How could you think I’d do this to you.” He whispered between them.

She stilled.

“How could you think that I’d—” Eren’s eyes drifted down to the hand she had bundled in his shirt, and then looked briefly at the inflamed black mark on her forearm. The one she knew was mirrored on his own arm. “I didn’t sell you out. I’m not like _him_.”

“Who?” she barked, not letting up on her hold on him, “the guards gave me the name Jaeger, and I only know one bastard with that name.”

The tip of the knife pushed Eren’s head further back, a vein in his neck bulging before the words caught up to him. His green eyes blazed and Eren surged forward, not even flinching when he cut himself on the sharpened edge, and the girl gasped as a thin line of blood ran down the blade. Eren looked like a man possessed as he spat one word.

“ _Zeke_.”

It brought her up short, and he took her momentary distraction to shove her dagger away from his throat, and she stumbled back into Mikasa, who did nothing but right her by the elbow and move in between her and Eren.

“Zeke?”

Of course, she remembered. She remembered the worry on both Reiner and Bertholdt’s face when they said they had to bring her back to _Zeke_. She also remembered the haughty sneer on Eren’s face when he talked about Zeke too. He was an unknown figure in her life, one that seemed to be hanging over her shoulder like a bad hunch.

What the hell was between Eren and Zeke that made him basically froth at the mouth?

Eren panted and swiped a thumb against the small gash on his throat. “Zeke is my half-brother.”

And suddenly it all made sense. It was Zeke. Zeke _Jaeger_.

The only name the prison guard had given her was Jaeger.

She felt as if her own muscles had turned to stone. Honestly, she guessed that if she unclenched her hands, her whole body would just unspool into a puddle at his feet.

“Zeke…Jaeger” she whispered, not looking him in the eye. “b-but the daggers, you knew I stole them in your territory…from your man.”

“and so did Zeke.”

That’s right. They’d talked about it right in front of Zeke’s lackeys, Reiner and Bertholdt. It was right before Eren had boasted that she was _his_. She shivered.

“I—” she started, not knowing what to say. Anger still pulsed in her veins but now she didn’t know where to point it.

Eren swiped his sleeve against his bloody mouth again, and then spat red onto the ground, “Asshole doesn’t know when to give up, not even when I was beating the shit out of him…he kept getting up…I-I had to knock him out.” Eren trailed off.

“oh, Eren you didn’t” Armin gasped, connecting the dots much quicker than anyone else did. “He had every right to _kill_ you. You know stepping past a boundary line makes it free reign.”

“You idiot.” Jean growled, running a hand down his face.

“You just told us to pick her up and bring her here, and then you disappeared Eren” Mikasa said quietly from behind her, “tell me you knew you’d come back.”

Eren just laughed, “I came back.”

“That’s not—”

“—look, Mikasa I’m okay, right? It’s okay, stop worrying.”

Jean scoffed, “Great, everything’s fine, it’s not like you probably just started a war or some shit.”

Eren rolled his eyes, and even though he was still breathing a bit heavy, and there was a heat in his eyes she couldn’t quite place, Eren’s body grew more relaxed with every passing second. She didn’t understand the calm that came with a home, wasn’t sure if she really remembered feeling safe anywhere besides the dim memories of her youth…she ached for it though.

“They probably want to retaliate…especially if you beat Zeke up _publicly_ in his territory”

“See? Even Marco agrees with me.” Jean said, throwing an arm around Marco to his left, and then turned to her “You think Eren’s an impulsive dick who can hold a grudge? You should meet Jaeger #2, Ze—”

“Well, Zeke is now down a couple teeth, bet he’ll think twice about making impulsive decisions.”

Armin just sighed, looking much older and much more tired than he probably should, “What should we do now? How do we clean this up?”

Eren slumped down against the wall, letting some of his weight rest against it for a moment. He didn’t show it on his face, but his arm was held tightly against his stomach, no doubt he was in pain.

“I’ve already sent Conny and Sasha out to gather some intel. They were waiting for me on the border the whole time. Jean and Marco, you guys go round up extra bullets, make sure we’re ready for anything just in case. Mikasa, go talk to Ackerman—I’m sure he and Erwin want to know what’s happening, they’re always gossiping together on their little tea dates or whatever, and Armin—” Eren smiled at the small blonde, “please go talk to Annie—”

“I-who?” Armin squeaked, his face turning read.

“Annie, get some information out of her, lover boy.”

Armin spluttered, already turning on his heel and marching out of the room.

None of the others questioned their orders, and all too soon the room was emptied out.

Did she remember how to breathe?

Her chest felt a bit tight and she didn’t want to move, not sure if she’d break the tension between them or make it worse.

Eren groaned as he shoved himself off the wall, and then staggered off toward the hallway, his shoulder brushed hers on the way past and she swayed with the force of it.

“Come on” he jerked his chin at her, “let me finish bandaging your arm, I think I’ve got the hang of it by now”

She watched him feel his way down the hall, and cautiously shuffled after him.

There was still anger, and humiliation and fear curled in her gut, but it felt all misplaced and jumbled. She felt like she’d been torn apart and then kind of rearranged and now she didn’t know where some parts were supposed to go.

The one thing she knew for certain was that she needed to talk to Eren.

She followed him into a dimly lit room.

The walls were red brick and the only light came in from a half-opened window to her left. There was a massive bed shoved into the corner next to it, the sheets strewn on the floor and a mess of pillows crumpled on top.

Shoes and random books littered the space, and she thought she saw a pistol hidden under the bed. There was the glint of steel in a drawer and maybe under a messy pillow. She breathed in, and it smelled like leather. Like leather and rust and maybe mint. And of course, there was a little dried plant perched precariously on the windowsill, some of the leaves had been crushed and spread out on the floor.

Eren had left the door open and she slowly let it click shut behind her. He had moved steadily through the room, leaving a trail behind him of muddy shoes and his torn and bloody shirt.

He didn’t think much of the mess, it was his room after all.

She took it all in quickly, absorbing everything she could about who he was and what this told her about him. She could feel it worming its way into her heart and she scratched at her chest like she could make it go away.

There was a crash from nearby and it made her jump. Eren had moved into a separate room, probably a storeroom, and he was cursing up a storm. Yellow light from the open doorway spilled out to touch her feet. She toed off her shoes.

She peaked around the open door and blinked as she saw the cramped little room. There were shelves lining one side, piled high with bandages and containers and other miscellaneous things. At the very back, a silver tub was tucked into the corner and it sat right under another window. She could almost picture Eren laying out in the bath, head thrown back in relaxation, the sound of birdsong filtering in.

“Looks like you’ve got a whole infirmary in your bedroom.” She said, leaning against the frame, not knowing where to put her arms.

Eren hummed, and then reached for the jar he’d dropped.

“Fuck” he winced as he bent too quickly at the waist, and she dropped down to grab it for him before either of them could blink.

She clutched the glass jar in her palms and felt whatever was inside warm to her body temperature, and she gulped when she looked up from where she was crouched on the floor.

Eren was leaning over her, one arm placed on the wall and his head hung low between them so that his hair curled toward her face. His eyes flickered between her own and what was in her hands, and she couldn’t help but follow the swipe of his tongue as he licked his lips.

She caught herself a moment too late and then jerked her gaze downward, which was a mistake. _Gods, his body._ She’d forgotten he’d shucked off his shirt, and her mouth ran dry as she dragged her eyes down the planes of his bare chest.

Eren all but caged her in against the wall and the heat of him pressed down on her. She could see the flex of his abdominal muscles every time his breath hitched. There was a dried rivulet of blood down the side of his neck and his chest was shining with a thin layer of sweat. Slowly, slowly, her eyes went downward and couldn’t stop from looking at the loose catch of his pants on his hips, just loose enough to show the pronounced V that disappeared behind the untied laces.

He caught her gaze the moment she forced her eyes up to meet his.

Were they both breathing a little heavy?

“You’re-you’re covered in blood.”

Eren just hummed, and then pushed off the wall. He reached drunkenly for a basin of clean water that was left on the floor near the door. She assumed it was there for when he was too lazy to fill the entire tub.

He turned his back on her and rummaged around for some clean white bandages, and once he’d found them he tucked them under his arm, grabbed the bucket of water and then moved back into the dim bedroom.

“You coming?”

She was moving before she consciously made the decision to.

“Sit” Eren said, motioning to the unmade bed.

And she sat.

She didn’t know how callused his hands were until he was smoothing his fingers down her forearm.

“It doesn’t look too bad” he angled her arm further into the light. Armin had already wiped most of the grime off of it, but it was still inflamed and sensitive to the touch. The way Eren carefully ran his fingertips up the inside of her arm made her eyelashes flutter.

“I guess it’s worse than it looks.” She muttered, shaking her head to try and clear whatever fog Eren’s presence had caught her in.

They sat in silence as he cleaned it again and then wrapped it in a bandage. The corner of his mouth turned up briefly as he felt the crash of her pulse under his hands.

Her mind was still a whirlwind of information, things she just wasn’t able to process at the moment.

She felt blindsided. Like she’d swung a punch but then missed completely and now her whole center of gravity was messed up.

Looking at him in the dim light of his bedroom, bloodied and scarred and gorgeous and broken, she just wanted to see the Eren she had known the night before.

The Eren that whispered “I see you” as he bared himself to her.

“Where were you?” she whispered into the space between them, catching the crinkle of confusion in the corner of his eyes.

Eren sat down gingerly on the bed beside her, the dip of his weight drawing them ever closer. “The ones that took you, they were Zeke’s cops—” he started, one hand reaching up to rub at the back of his neck, “—we all found out maybe a half hour after you were arrested, Sasha’d been keeping tabs on the Inn…and I just—I left and crossed the boundary line.”

“and then you went a picked a fight.”

“Zeke knew he had it coming, he underestimated me like always.” Eren said bitterly, poking absentmindedly at his bruised torso.

She just nodded and picked at the frayed edges of the bandage on her arm and then sighed, her eyes clenching shut.

“You could’ve broken me out of prison.”

Eren froze.

“There were only three guards, one of them not even armed. My cell was level with the street. I’m sure one of you know how to break open a barred window.” She laughed, keeping her gaze down in her lap. “I sat there in the cold for hours, Eren. And then, and _then_ they held me down and—I hoped to god you screamed as much as I did.”

There was a bite to her words. The more she spoke the sharper her anger. _Eren could’ve saved me._

“They tossed me out onto the street like trash. Oh, but at least you sent Jean and Mikasa to pick me up like some fucked up nanny service.”

“I—”

“ _You could’ve saved me”_ she searched his eyes for something, anything. She couldn’t make sense of it.

“I know.” He wasn’t looking at her.

Eren knew. He knew he could’ve saved her the pain and the trauma of being branded a thief and yet he had gone to Zeke, wanting to feel alive with his brother’s blood staining his hands.

His green eyes were downcast, but she caught the way he was tracing over the tattooed lines of his own thief mark. She saw the way his roughened fingers traced over the black bands on his forearm.

And then it made sense _._

She laughed, “You fucking bastard, you wanted this to happen didn’t you?”

His silence was answer enough. _Oh he did, didn’t he._

“What? You thought both of us would bond over our little thief brands? Share the pain or some shit? Don’t make me cry, _Jaeger.”_ She bit out. She wanted him to feel her anger through her words.

“You’re wrong” Eren bit out, reaching out to grab onto her shoulder.

She slapped his hand away, seething.

“I said, _don’t bullshit me_.” His green eyes were brighter than she’d ever seen them. “this is a sick fucking game you’re playing. I want out.”

She pushed him back by the chest, letting her nails dig in just a little bit to feel the realness of him and then went for the door, he caught her by the wrist before she could go a step.

“Wait.”

“if you don’t remove your hand in the next 2 seconds, I’m going to gauge out those pretty eyes of yours, Eren.”

Whatever he looked for on her face he obviously found because he let go, and then she stayed.

“Just-just tell me why.”

Eren ran a hand through his hair, and she had to hold herself back from tucking a loose strand behind his ear. She didn’t know how her body could feed her so much anger and still offer the smallest bit of kindness toward him.

He didn’t look at her when he answered “When I heard what had happened I just-I went for Zeke. I knew he was behind it and my immediate response was to go make him pay. He can’t get off messing with my—with you. And…I knew what would happen to you in prison, you could handle it. You’re stronger than you think”

“fuck you”

“Look, you don’t get it. Zeke and I—.”

“Eren, look at me,” she said, and then grabbed him by the chin, she wanted to press her thumb against the split in his lip and watch him bleed, “I _can_ handle it. I’m just as strong, maybe stronger than I think. But what hurt me, what _is_ hurting me is the fact that you’re lying straight to my face.”

His eyes blazed and when he opened his mouth to respond, she put pressure on his busted lip just like she had wanted to. His breath was warm, and she knew she had his full attention.

“You didn’t break me out because… you wanted to keep me. You know me. We’re more alike than I want to admit. If you had busted me out of that cell, I would’ve felt caged by you, indebted in a way that would haunt me and make me hate you even more. _I would’ve left and never looked back_ ”

She dropped his chin and then reached for his tattooed arm, tugging it away from his torso. She liked how her fingers pressed into the inked flesh of his forearm. Wondered briefly what _his_ fingers would look like digging into her ink.

“You’re selfish and manipulative and _cunning_.” She laughed, and then let her hands sink into his hair, she cradled the back of his head, reveling in the way he looked up at her from the bed.

“You would’ve done the same.” He said softly.

She hummed, “Probably, but you…you made one tiny mistake, Eren.” His eyelashes fluttered as she raked her nails against the back of his skull “you thought you’d be forgiven.”

His green eyes snapped into focus, and he grabbed the hand fisted in his hair. She couldn’t move without dragging him with her.

“I don’t need forgiveness” Eren panted, “hate me but stay with me.”

“All we’ll ever do is hurt each other.” She knew whatever was between them was dangerous. it was electric and chaotic.

“What’s a little more pain?”

She searched his face and tried to read him. One thing she had yet to learn was how to do it.

“I screamed.” Eren grinned, “I screamed the second time too.” He motioned down to his inked arm. “I knew exactly how much it was going to hurt.”

She growled and pulled his head back even further.

“You would’ve gotten caught eventually, why not be glad it was sooner rather than later.”

Eren chuckled darkly, his eyes glued to the cruel tilt to her mouth.

“you’re an asshole, you know that?”

“You couldn’t get rid of me now even if you tried.”

And she hated him because it was the truth. In the brief time she’d known him, he’d made her feel more alive, more _understood_ than she had in her entire puny life. She could tell that just as much as he’d dug his claws into her, she’d done the same to him. They sure were a pair, weren’t they?

Eren was dangerous. He gambled, and he won. He used her own desperation for connection and intimacy against her, he knew full well that even if he’d been the one to hold her down and mark her himself, she’d still stay by him in some capacity.

The idea of love wasn’t enough for her at the moment. The _what if_ scenarios of relationships and devotion was not enough to keep her around him… but vengeance? Hatred? Lust?

Those were things that set her soul on fire. Eren knew exactly how to stoke the flame.

They both burned from the same cinders after all.

She wished he had saved her the humiliation of receiving the mark, but he was right…he would’ve lost her forever if he’d gotten her out.

And no doubt that if the roles were reversed she would’ve done the same. They were stuck with each other. They were both lonely bastards too stubborn to let go once they’d found each other.

She yanked on his hair to get his attention, his eyes had begun to wander down her form and she hated the surge of heat that flushed through her body, “This is what’s going to happen—” she pushed until he was lying flat on his bed, and then climbed to straddle his lap, flexing her thighs as she held his hips down, “You’re going to _apologize_.”

Releasing the hold she had on his hair, she grabbed him by the throat, and Eren had the smarts to leave his hands down by his sides, although they were itching to sink into the meat of her hips.

“Apologize? I guess there’s a first time for everything.” Eren said lazily, his eyes now hooded as he looked up at her.

“Tch” she rolled her hips down against him, drunk off the way she could feel him swallow under the palm of her hand and the dark she could see creeping into his

bright eyes.

“You’re going to apologize to me, Eren, and then you’re going to fuck me.”

He groaned as she slowly leaned down and pressed them chest to chest. She brought her lips next to his ear, letting them drag against the light stubble on his chin as she went.

“—and then, when you’re spent and blissed out and _mine,_ I’ll know that I’ve ruined you for any other.” she nosed at the sensitive skin under his ear, and smiled when she saw him shiver, “ _I see you, Eren._ And you see me. And we’re going to fight and probably hate each other for some time but, who knows what life’ll bring huh? We’ll just have to let it _play_ out.”

There was a downright wickedness to the way she continued to roll her hips against his, and he gasped when she sucked a bruise under his jaw, reveling in the red mark she’d left behind.

“I’m still injured you know.” Eren moaned, eyes glassy as she used her hold on his neck to move his head where she pleased, so she could leave bites and kiss marks down the expanse of his throat.

“you’re not one to complain—” he whined as she raked the nails of one hand down his bare chest, over the bruises on his torso “—seems like the pain makes you excited.”

Eren’s eyes squeezed shut as her hips moved against his. She could feel how hard he was between her legs, and she smiled, rubbing her clothed heat over him again and again.

“I-ah, _fuck_ -I thought you wanted me to-to fuck you?”

She hummed and left open mouthed kisses across his pronounced collar bones. “I did say that, didn’t I?”

Pressing her palm flat against his chest to keep him still, she worked quickly to untie his pants, smirking as he obediently lifted his hips and helped her take them off.

_God, Eren was gorgeous_. Lying there naked in the dim light from the window, tangled in messy sheets, panting and blushing and looking at her like he wanted to beg or bite. It was enough to stop her heart all together.

She pulled her own shirt over her head, shivering slightly as the air hit her bare skin, and then she took a moment to kick off her pants.

She righted herself in his lap, both of her hands pressed flat against his stomach, his darkening bruises splaying behind her fingertips, and then she lowered herself and felt the length of him slide between her legs.

Eren inhaled through his teeth and then clamped his hands down on either side of her waist.

Little thrusts of his hips met hers in time as they moved together. His hair had come loose of his leather band and it fanned out on either side of his head. His green eyes were hazy, and he bit at his lip as he watched his dick glide between her.

She was so _warm_.

Eren’s hips stuttered as she lightly dug her nails into the bruised flesh of his stomach, and then reached up to flick at one of his nipples. He threw his head back and she swiveled her hips as she saw the already darkened love bites she’d littered his neck with.

“Ah, _shit_ —I, you f-feel so good. _Fuck_ , so good for me.” He ran a calloused hand up her side, and then squeezed one of her breasts, the pad of his thumb swiping over her hardened nipple, “I-I, oh, _stop,_ don’t, I-I’m gonna-oh _sweet girl._ ”

She had leaned down to run her tongue against his chest and bite at one of his pecs and then she felt his hips pick up just a bit more speed and she smiled.

“Eren” she whispered between them as she blew gently against the wet mark of her teeth on his skin, “say you’re sorry.”

“No—I, _oh-_ no”

He was panting into her mouth, his eyes doing nothing but following the swipe of her tongue against her lips and the motion of her hips.

“No?” she teased.

“No, I-I’ve got something better in mind.” Eren grinned, and then before she could blink he had flipped her onto her back.

She blinked up at him owlishly. His hair fell on either side of her face, his arms caged her in close to his body, and he had one thigh inching its way between her legs.

The breath rushed out of her as he claimed her mouth in a kiss.

It was teeth and heat at first but then she moaned, letting her mouth slide open for him as he messaged her tongue with his own. He was stealing the very breath from her lungs.

His lips were red and puffy by the time he moved back, and he ran the pad of his thumb across her bottom lip, he exhaled slowly as she pressed a kiss against it.

She complained when he moved away from her and she reached up for him but was stopped as he pressed a large hand against her sternum and held her down, just as she had done to him.

Eren kissed his way down her body, and she ran her fingertips along the curve of his cheek and into the silky strands of his hair as he looked up at her while his teeth dug impressions into her bare hip.

His broad shoulders held her legs open and then he was kissing the soft skin of her inner thighs. She could hardly look at him, it was sinful the way he sloppily kissed at her skin and held her gaze with his own glassy eyes.

“Eren—” she said cautiously.

He hummed and then exhaled against her, she shivered at the feel of his warm breath against her. “This is me saying sorry.”

And then he spread her open with his fingers, his other hand pressed deep into one thigh, and she cried out at the first swipe of his tongue against her.

It was lazy and deep and so so good that it had her arching off of the bed trying to press her hips even closer to the wet heat of his mouth.

Eren licked lightly at her clit until her thighs were positively trembling around his head. And then he’d press her thighs even further apart, his gaze flickering up to meet hers every once in a while, before he pressed his tongue against her opening.

He was fucking her with his tongue and she was gasping and whining and trying not to let the stream of _Eren, Eren, Eren_ out that was perched on her own tongue.

Eren would hum against her and she’d squirm. He would hold her gaze just as he sucked her clit into his mouth and she’d see white.

She tried to focus on one sensation, but the feel of his nose pressing into the sensitive bundle of nerves between her thighs, the feel of his tongue thrusting in and out of her, the feel of his fingers pressing bruises into the flesh of her thigh, it was too much. And not enough.

“Eren, _eren_ , oh, I’m, don’t stop, _please—_ ” she was grinding against his mouth, trying to ring any and all pleasure out of him and then whined when he pressed the flat of a palm against the planes of her stomach, so she couldn’t move.

Her legs were spread wide around his broad shoulders, he had her pinned to the bed, and his mouth, _gods his mouth_ , was making her feel things she never had before.

“ _fuck,_ why didn’t you do t-this sooner, _ah,_ I-at least it’s a g-good way to shut you up, _fu-“_

She could see the smirk behind his eyes, but when he hit a particularly good rhythm, one finger pressed just barely against her opening and his tongue flicking repeatedly against her clit she keened.

And he didn’t let up.

Eren didn’t stop even when she was bucking against him, and _fuck_ if she didn’t want the imprint of his hand bruised onto the skin of her stomach.

“I’m gonna-I, Eren-I’m gonna cum, I- _shit it’s so good, so good_ ,”

And when she grabbed fistfuls of his hair, pushing his mouth even closer to her, she felt his tongue flick against her a few more agonizing times and then she was gasping for breath as she came in his mouth.

Eren continued to lick at her as her hips slowed and she tried to get her heart beat to calm down and to catch her breath.

He rubbed soothing circles into her inner thigh and when she finally came down from the high she tried to push his head away, but he didn’t stop.

He kept a lazy pace and was licking her with his eyes closed, humming in the back of his throat and not bothering to let up despite her oversensitivity.

She felt loose, the only thing on her mind was Eren between her legs and the taste of herself on his tongue.

“Eren” she said, trying to bring him back up toward her, but caught her breath when he pinned her with his eyes.

He pressed her open wider and licked a broad stripe up her center.

“E-eren.”

“Again.” And then he closed his eyes and pressed his tongue flat against her clit, two of his fingers sinking into her and making her toes curl. “Can you cum for me again, sweet?”

Just the way she saw her release glistening on his chin when he’d briefly lifted his head made her eyes roll back the tiniest bit.

And Eren didn’t give her any room to rest. He was urging her closer and closer to her second orgasm with every languid push of his tongue against her.

God, she couldn’t get enough of him. She was buried in his scent, rolling in his sheets and marked with his love bites and she reveled in it.

“I’m going to, _oh_ —”

He kept her teetering on that edge between pleasure and pain until it morphed into liquid hot _pleasure_. It had her bucking harshly against his palm, trying to chase his mouth, but either he was too strong or she just liked the feeling of being held down by him.

Eren hummed and blew out air against her. Then suddenly, he moved his mouth off of her, leaving wet kisses along her thighs and hips as he went.

She reached for him, trying to bring his mouth back down to her aching heat, _she was so close, so so close_ and yet he chuckled and sat up so he could see her better.

Eren’s eyes shone as he took in her disheveled appearance. Her cheeks were pink and her chest was heaving, and she was reaching for him because he’d left her just on the brink of release.

“Bastard” she sighed, and then reached for him again, a smile curling on her lips as he tangled their fingers together.

Eren pushed her back further onto the bed so he could sit on his knees between her thighs. He lifted her legs so they could hug him by his hips and she watched as he took himself in hand and stroked from base to tip once, and then again.

“You said you wanted me to fuck you, right?” Eren wiped his mouth against the back of his hand, smearing her own arousal that shined on his chin.

All she did in response was grab the back of one thigh as she spread herself even wider for him, one eyebrow cocked as if to say ‘well?’

“Do it before I change my mind.” She slurred, too high off of _him_ to really make sense of anything.

Eren laughed then, and shuffled even closer, he pressed the head of his dick against the heat of her opening, “I thought we agreed that there was no going back? You’re mine…and I’m yours.”

And then he pushed in with a single thrust.

They both groaned in unison as he finally sank into her.

Her head was thrown back as she locked her ankles together behind him, urging him even further inside. She could feel him everywhere. _Fuck, he was ruining her._ She knew she’d never take another to her bed without thinking of green eyes, tattoos, and a mischievous grin.

Eren moaned low in his throat as she rolled her hips slightly to just feel the heavy length of him move inside of her. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand as he intertwined their fingers near her head.

His eyes searched her own and he leaned down to lightly brush his lips against hers and a corner of her mouth turned up at the softness of it all.

“I’m still mad at you.” She whispered, biting her lip as he gave a shallow thrust of his own hips against hers.

For a moment she wondered that if she pressed down on the planes of her stomach if she could feel him there too.

“I know.” And then Eren started to move.

It was slow, and she hated him for it. He would pull out to the tip and then thrust himself deeply into her heat, his shallow pants brushed against her mouth and she moved her head side to side, digging her heels into his back trying to make him go faster.

Eren didn’t do anything but sink into her until his hips were flush against hers, over and over again. It was excruciating.

She was gasping, trying to move her own hips, trying to clench around him and make him give her the release she was chasing but he wasn’t letting up.

There was something building in her, but it was too far out of reach.

And when she whined and turned to bite at his forearm with her teeth his eyes blazed like he expected it of her.

“Tsk” and then he was capturing both of her arms in one hand and trailing the other down the front of her body.

Eren rubbed light little circles against her clit, and it still wasn’t enough.

“You’re so fucking gorgeous like this” he whispered, “writhing on my cock, begging for me…god, I can still taste you.”

She panted beneath him, “Eren”

“What. What is it?” he pressed a kiss against her sweaty brow, “tell me, sweet girl”

“ _please_ ”

Eren smiled, that soft smile that made her ache, and yet he didn’t change his pace at all.

She cried out as he thrusted into her again, the circle of his thumb on her clit just enough to drive her crazy.

He jerked back as she reared up at him. “Go faster.” She barked.

Eren huffed out a laugh, “ _god,_ you don’t know what you do to me.” His eyes fluttered closed as he disappeared inside of her again, “I- _fuck_ , that’s good. C-careful, I bite back” he groaned.

_Good_.

The longer Eren moved inside her keeping the same pace, the more flushed she got. She felt like a full body blush was breaking out on her skin.

And then something tight and hot was coiling in her gut. It was building every time Eren moved ad she tossed her head back and forth, gasping his name as she chased another orgasm.

“Eren.” She begged, trying to get him to push her over the edge as fast as possible. It was too big, it was too _sharp_ , she truly didn’t know if it was pleasure or pain.

And when he gave one final sharp thrust into her, lightly pressing against her clit, she was gone.

This time she did get her teeth in him.

Just as she felt the mind-numbing pleasure flash through her body she bit into the meat of his shoulder and he groaned as she trembled against him, drawing his length even further into the pulsing heat of her.

And then she was panting wetly into his neck a string of his name tumbling out of her lips as she tried to come down.

Eren was still thrusting into her, and her body was limp as she was jostled with his movement.

She whined, her body feeling oversensitive, like she wanted to just melt into him and never leave.

“I-I can’t” she moaned, “Eren—”

“You can.” He was picking up speed, chasing his own orgasm as he’d staved it off, just to drive her that little bit further. “one more time, o-one more. For me.”

And he was snapping his hips against hers, and she was choking on her own breath.

Eren lowered himself down onto his elbows so he boxed her in close to his face and he couldn’t get enough of the fucked out expression on her face.

“g-good girl. Ah, _fuck_ , there you g-go. You-you’re so good for me, _ah_ ”

She felt gods honest tears pooling in the corner of her eyes, and she was babbling, spiting nonsense, little coos and groans spilling out between her teeth, all mixed in with the loud gasps of his own name.

Eren couldn’t take her eyes off of her, “I want you to t-think of me. Any time you fuck somebody else, I-I want you to feel _me_ fucking you, t-think of my cock, my m-mouth, _god,_ I w-want you broken for anyone b-but me.”

Her eyes rolled back into her head.

The feeling of him pounding into her with no restraint, the catch of his voice and the way she was drowning in the depths of his eyes…she was a woman possessed.

She found whatever lucidity that lurker in the back of her mind to breathe into the space between them, “E-eren, you’ve been broken this entire t-time. _Fuck,_ I’m the o-one piecing you t-together. I-I, _you’re_ going to think of m-me, _my_ mouth, _my_ taste, _my_ cunt every time you s-so much as pull out y-your dick—”

And then she was arching up into his chest, absolutely shivering as he pressed open and lazy kisses against her face and neck.

_They were fucking binding themselves together_. Whether it be hate, love or lust that locked their souls together….hell if they knew.

“I’m, _so close_ , I, _ah, god_ —”

She was almost there and Eren had his forehead pressed against hers and his hips were thrusting messily against hers and then she was scrambling wildly against him as he came inside of her.

She felt the warmth of him fill her up and she was gasping for breath, raking her nails down his back, hoping that they’d show up as raised red lines to go with the bruises on his chest.

It hit her hard and she fucking screamed with it.

Both of them were wrapped together, his face tucked into her neck and he wondered at how soft she was as she trembled in his arms.

They came down together, and she kissed at his cheeks, his nose, any place she could reach, pretending that they were something they weren’t, if only for a second.

He carefully wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, and she closed them as she truly felt the exhaustion hit her body.

She didn’t even want to think about all the shit she’d been through in the past 10 hours alone.

And when Eren finally pulled out, he sat back and groaned at the site of his cum dripping out of her.

“I’m never going to get rid of you, am I?” he said, fingers trailing down the hand shaped bruises along her body.

She snorted, “wish I could get rid of _you_.”

And then yelped as he lightly slapped the inside of her thigh.

Eren laughed, and he looked younger. There was that soft smile on his face that she hated and loved, hated because it made her want him, and loved because it was always aimed at her.

She groaned as she moved her body into a full stretch, wriggling her toes in the cold messy sheets and then groaned as Eren flopped down beside her on the bed.

Rolling onto her side, she elbowed him in the gut as Eren moved to fit himself against her back, throwing an arm around her middle.

The white bandage on her arm had become loose and she tugged it closer to her chest.

“Do you think we were meant to meet each other? Like, it was the universe bringing us together or something?” Eren spoke into the back of her neck.

She rolled her eyes, and then shoved his arm away from her, and barely made it an inch off the bed before Eren was pulling her back into the heat of his arms.

“Nooooo, don’t go. Stay.”

What an insufferable brat.

She rolled her eyes again, “Turn over. I’m the big spoon.”

And the childlike grin he flashed her made her forget why she was mad at him for only an instant.

She snuggled up against his back, her face pressed directly between his shoulder blades and threw her arm across his middle.

“I’ll give you one minute of cuddles and then I’m leaving—” Eren started to protest, “—I’m leaving, and you’re going to let me. And then, I’m going to hunt down Zeke, and make him regret ever laying eyes on me.”

Eren tried to turn around in her arms, but she pressed hard into the aching bruises on his stomach and he hissed. She could practically picture the pissed off expression on his face.

“He’s not going to get away with the shit he pulled, and no, you beating the shit out of him doesn’t count. It’s gotta be me holding a knife to the asshole’s throat.”

Eren grumbled, and then pulled her arm even tighter against his stomach and she chuckled against the skin of his back, “Fair enough”

“—and then,” she pressed a kiss between his shoulders, then one on the back of his neck. “I’m going to make your life a living hell, Jaeger.”

And then she finally let him wriggle around until they were facing each other.

There was a wicked gleam in his eyes that was echoed in her own.

“Yeah?” he breathed out, eyes darting to her lips and then back again.

“Mhm,” she cupped his face in the palm of her hand “Maybe you’ll finally come to your senses and hate me just a bit.”

“I could never” he said, nipping at her hand.

The girl laughed, dragging the tips of her fingers across his mouth, pressing the tip of her thumb onto his tongue.

“It’ll be a new little game of cat and mouse…are you in?”

Eren’s eyes sharpened.

“Always.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THANKS FOR READING AH.
> 
> (( was thinking about doing some other short fics about other AOT characters but in this kind of little AU I've created, maybe reader/levi, reader/armin, reader/jean, reader/reiner fics? but in the same shiganshina gang setting that I've set up lmao, let me know if that sounds interesting ))
> 
> THANKS AGAIN idk this has literally brought my love of fanfiction back to life, there's no stopping me now oops.


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